O*  GMJJf.  L»&ARY.  LOS  ANGELA 


HE  SAT  S\VIN<;I.\<;  His  HARK  FEET  OVER  THE  WATER 


WORTH  HIS  WHILE 


BY 


AMY  E.  BLANCHARD 

Author  of  "  Kittyboy's  Christmas,"  "  Taking  a  Stand,"  "A 
Dear  Little  Girl,"  "Thy  Friend  Dorothy,"  Etc. 


Philadelphia 

GEORGE  w.  JACOBS  &  Co. 
103-105  So.  Fifteenth  St. 


COPYRIGHT,  1901,  BY 
GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  CO. 


CONTENTS 

I.       ON    THE    WAY    TO    BIG    CREEK 7 

II.        BENNY    FINDS    A    FRIEND 23 

III.  AMONG    THE    PICKERS 38 

IV.  A    HIDDEN    ENEMY 52 

V.       BENNY    AND    A    RING 65 

VI.       BEN'S    BEAUTIFUL   SURPRISE 80 

vii.     HIS  FATHER'S  PLAN 94 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

"  HE     SAT     SWINGING     HIS     BARE     FEET 

OVER  THE  WATER," Frontispiece 

"IT    WAS    NOT    VERY    PLEASANT    WORK,"       ...       39 
"SUCH    A    GLAD    MOTHER," IO2 


CHAPTER  I 

ON    THE   WAY    TO    BIG    CREEK 

,  how  hot  it  was !  Down  in  the 
narrow  streets,  where  straight  rows 
of  little  brick  houses  were  crowded  to- 
gether there  was  not  the  faintest  breeze, 
and  even  on  the  wharf  where  Benny 
Jordan  sat  swinging  his  bare  feet  over 
the  water,  it  was  scarcely  cooler.  Usually 
there  were  little  waves  splashing  up 
against  the  green  logs  of  the  pier,  but  to- 
day only  the  faintest  little  ripples  swished 
lazily  against  the  piles  and  the  boats  lying 
farther  out  did  not  flap  a  sail. 

"  It's  no  good  staying  here,"  said  Benny 
to  himself,  as  he  got  up  and  stretched  his 
arms  over  his  head.  "  It's  just  about  as 
hot  as  it  is  at  home.  I  wonder  what  there 

7 


8  Worth  His  While 

is  for  supper.  My,  but  I'd  like  some  ice 
cream !  I  haven't  had  any  for  so  long, 
and  I  reckon  I  never  will  have  any 
again."  And  at  this  very  sobering 
thought  Benny  began  to  patter  along 
over  the  sidewalk,  almost  forgetting  that 
this  was  the  hottest  day  of  the  season, 
entirely  too  hot  for  May,  and  that  the  big 
excursion  steamer,  which  he  had  been 
waiting  to  see,  would  soon  be  in  sight. 

"  'Tain't  any  use  to  wait,"  he  said  to 
himself,  as  if  apologizing.  "  I'd  only  see 
the  crowd,  and  what's  a  crowd,  anyhow  ?" 

So  he  marched  on  up  the  street,  passing 
the  fruit  stands  and  ill-smelling  ware- 
houses, until  he  turned  into  one  of  the 
small  streets  leading  out  of  the  thorough- 
fare, and  presently  he  arrived  at  a  small 
two-story  brick  house,  one  of  a  long  row. 
So  much  alike  were  these  buildings  that 
it  is  a  wonder  Benny  knew  how  to  tell 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek          9 

his  own  home  without  counting  the 
'doorways. 

"Where's  mother?"  was  his  question 
as  he  reached  the  door. 

His  sister  Kitty,  sitting  on  the  door- 
step, looked  up,  "  She's  upstairs,  of 
course,  sewing  as  hard  as  she  can,  and 
it's  so  hot." 

Benuy  went  pounding  up  the  stairs  to 
the  room  where  his  mother  sat  sewing. 
"  Say,  mother,  it's  too  hot  to  sew,"  he 
exclaimed. 

"  But  it  isn't  too  hot  to  eat,  is  it  ?  "  she 
said,  looking  up  with  a  smile.  "  You 
know  if  I  didn't  sew  we  wouldn't  have 
anything  to  eat." 

"  That's  so,"  replied  Benny,  slowly. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?"  asked  his 
mother,  stopping  to  push  back  the  damp 
hair  from  her  face. 

"I've    been    down    on  the   wharf;   it's 


io  Worth  His  While 

generally  cool  there,  but  it's  hot  every- 
where to-day.  I  like  to  go  there,  though  ; 
I  like  to  see  the  people  come  up  from  the 
country  with  big  bundles  of  flowers,  and 
I  like  to  watch  the  men  unload  the  boats. 
They  brought  such  a  lot  of  strawberries 
to-day." 

"  This  weather  ripens  them  fast.  It  is 
very  early  to  have  such  heat." 

"  I  wish  we  lived  in  the  country," 
said  Benny.  "  Isn't  it  cheaper  to  live 
there  ?" 

"  Ye-es,  if  you  have  some  one  to  work 
your  garden  and  take  care  of  your  stock. 
But  how  could  I  make  a  living  for  you 
and  Kitty?" 

"  We  could  help,"  Benny  replied. 

"  Not  much,  I'm  afraid.  A  little  boy 
ten  years  old  and  a  little  girl  seven  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  do  much  toward 
making  a  living." 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         n 

"  But  shouldn't  you  like  to  live  there  ?" 
persisted  Benny. 

"I  should,  indeed,"  returned  his  mother, 
with  a  sigh.  "  I  was  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
you  know,  and  so  was  your  father." 

Benny  had  heard  of  that  farm  many, 
many  times.  He  knew  all  about  the 
spring  and  the  orchard,  the  barn  and  the 
garden.  "  Grandfather  sold  it,  didn't  he  ?" 
was  his  remark,  made  regretfully. 

"  Yes,  long  ago.  Come,  we  must  have 
some  supper.  You  and  sister  can  set  the 
table." 

"  What  is  there  for  supper  ?" 

"  Nothing  but  bread  and  molasses,  I'm 
afraid." 

"  I  wish  we  could  have  some  ice  cream 
and  strawberries." 

"  Now  you  are  making  an  extravagant 
wish.  We  can't  have  that,  but,  perhaps, 
we  might  have  some  bread  and  milk. 


12  Worth  His  While 

You  can  go  and  get  a  quart  of  milk  and 
we'll  have  a  treat." 

Benny's  face  brightened.  Bread  and 
cold  milk  on  a  hot  day  was  a  much  more 
appetizing  prospect  than  bread  and  mo- 
lasses, and  the  little  boy  promptly  ran 
down  to  tell  his  sister. 

"  Hurry  up,  Kit,  and  set  the  table ; 
we're  going  to  have  bread  and  milk. 
Where's  a  tin  bucket  ?" 

Pale  little  Kitty  put  down  her  paper 
dolls  with  alacrity,  and  before  long  the 
little  family  were  seated  at  the  table. 
Slowly  and  reluctantly  the  children  dis- 
posed of  the  last  drop  of  milk  in  their 
bowls. 

"  If  we  lived  in  the  country,  we  could 
have  this  every  night,"  Benny  said. 

"  What  has  set  you  harping  so  on  the 
country  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Jordan. 

"  Why,   I   don't    know.     I   reckon  it's 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         13 

hearing  the  men  talk  down  at  the  wharf. 
One  of  'em  said  this  morning  :  *  There's 
no  money  for  farmers  nowadays.  A  man 
can't  make  anything  in  the  country.' 
'  He  can  always  make  a  living,'  said  the 
other, '  and  a  pretty  good  one,  too.  How'd 
you  like  your  wife  and  babies  to  be  in  the 
city  this  weather  ?  Why,  sir,  there's  lots 
of  folks  would  give  anything  to  see  their 
children  tumble  'round  on  the  grass  under 
such  trees  as  you've  got  and  have  all  the 
good  milk  they  wanted  to  drink.  I  think 
we  country  people  are  pretty  well  off,  my- 
self. We  don't  make  a  fortune,  but  we've 
got  a  good  living  right  handy.'  " 

Benny  unconsciously  imitated  the  man, 
and  his  mother  laughed. 

"  You  surely  took  in  that  conversation, 
Benny.  I'd  like  well  enough  to  live 
under  the  green  trees  again.  It's  what 
your  father  always  planned  to  do  some 


14  Worth  His  While 

day  when  he  had  made  enough  to  buy  a 
little  place." 

Benny  looked  sober.  He  always  felt  as 
if  he  wanted  to  carry  out  his  father's 
plans,  and  this  looked  like  a  very  hard 
one. 

"  You  make  it  worth  while,  and  we'll 
go,"  said  his  mother,  smiling.  "  Now  I 
must  go  back  to  my  buttonholes  and  you 
children  can  clear  away  the  dishes." 

"  Don't  you  wish  you  could  find  a  way 
to  get  to  the  country  ?"  said  big-eyed  little 
Kitty,  as  she  carefully  put  away  the  last 
bowl. 

Benny  turned  his  round,  good-natured, 
freckled  little  face  toward  her.  "  I'm  a 
goin'  to,"  he  said,  determinedly.  "  Mother 
said  she  go  if  I'd  make  it  worth  while,  and 
I'm  a  goin'  to." 

"  Oh,  Benny,  are  you  ?"  said  Kitty.  She 
had  the  utmost  confidence  in  this  elder 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         15 

brother,  who,  although  only  three  years 
older,  seemed  so  much  larger  and  stronger 
than  herself,  and  was  a  person  always  to 
be  depended  upon  to  undertake  any  diffi- 
cult task.  "  How  are  you  going  to  ?"  she 
continued'. 

"  I'm  a  goin'  to,"  reiterated  Benny,  with 
the  same  emphasis.  And  the  fact  of  his 
saying  this  and  nothing  more  gave  greater 
weight  to  his  words.  So  all  that  evening 
Kitty  dreamed  beautiful  dreams  of  a  little 
home  near  green  meadows  and  under 
leafy  trees. 

Benny's  determination  had  not  left  him 
the  next  day.  It  was  a  holiday  and  Benny 
pattered  off  down  to  the  wharf  as  early 
as  possible.  Somehow  then  it  seemed  as 
if  that  land  of  delight  known  as  the  coun- 
try were  more  accessible  by  reason  of  the 
arrival  of  the  crafts  which  plied  between 
the  lower  counties  and  the  city.  It  ap- 


16  Worth  His  While 

peared  so  easy  to  step  aboard  a  little 
steamer  and  be  borne  along  over  the  bay 
to  the  green  shores  melting  away  in  the 
distance.  Those  shores  from  which  were 
brought, on  the  little  sailing  vessels,  moun- 
tains of  green  peas,  crates  of  luscious 
strawberries,  baskets  of  downy  peaches. 
It  represented  to  Benny  a  veritable 
Canaan,  that  country  from  which  the 
little  vessels  came,  and  many  a  time  he 
had  sat  on  the  pier  looking  off  into  the 
distance  and  dreaming  of  the  fullness  and 
plenty  which  he  imagined  existed  there. 

He  was  standing  at  the  gangway  of  a 
small  steamer  which  lay  moored  to  her 
dock,  when  his  attention  was  arrested  by 
two  men  who  halted  near  him. 

"Hello,  Jim!"  said  one.  "What's 
bringing  you  to  town  ?  Thought  this 
was  a  busy  time  with  you." 

"  So  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  but  my  pick- 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         17 

ers  disappointed  me.  Here  my  strawber- 
ries and  peas  are  ready  and  waiting  and 
not  a  soul  to  pick  'em.  It  certainly  is 
aggravating." 

"  It  certainly  is,"  returned  his  friend. 
"  What  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?" 

"  I've  come  up  to  see  if  I  can  get  a  new 
gang.  I  shall  have  to  take  what  I  can 
get.  People  make  a  very  poor  mouth, 
but  I  notice  when  anyone  wants  farm 
hands  of  any  kind  it  isn't  always  so  easy 
to  get  hold  of  'em.  Good  pay  and  good 
food,  with  good,  fresh  air  thrown  in,  and 
yet  they  shy  off.  Well,  I  can't  tarry  ; 
good-by." 

"  Well,  good  luck  to  you,"  returned  his 
friend.  And  then,  turning  around  he 
saw  by  his  side  an  eager-faced  little  lad. 

"  Well,  sonny  ?"  said  the  man. 

"  If  you  please,  sir,  what  did  that  man 
want  ?" 


i8  Worth  His  While 

"  Pickers,  to  pick  his  strawberries  and 
peas  for  him.  Do  you  know  anyone  who 
wants  a  job  in  that  line  ?" 

"Could  I  do  it?"  and  Benny's  blue 
eyes  were  very  wistful. 

"  You  ?  Why  I  don't  know.  How  old 
are  you  ?" 

"  Ten." 

"  I'm  afraid  you'd  soon  give  out.  It's 
no  fun  to  stay  among  the  vines  all  day  in 
the  hot  sun,  and  I'll  venture  to  say  you 
wouldn't  pick  as  many  for  your  box  as  you 
would  for  your  mouth.  How  about  that  ?" 

Benny  shook  his  head  decidedly,  "  No, 
sir." 

"You  wouldn't?  Well,  I  reckon  Mr. 
Bentley  will  be  back  here  for  the  after- 
noon boat.  You  might  ask  him  then," 
and  the  man  walked  away. 

Benny  lost  no  time  in  speeding  home. 
He  burst  in  upon  his  mother  with  the 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         19 

breathless  question,  "  Mother,  may  I  go 
down  on  the  '  Emma  Jones  '  and  be  a 
picker  ?" 

Mrs.  Jordan  turned  from  her  machine 
with  a  look  of  amazement.  "  Why, 
Benny,  wliat  do  you  mean  ?" 

"  Why,  there's  a  man,  a  Mr.  Bentley, 
who  is  hunting  up  people  to  pick  straw- 
berries and  peas  for  him,  and  maybe  I 
could  go.  Maybe  it  would  be  finding  the 
way,  you  know,  for  father's  plan." 

His  mother  smiled  sadly. 

"  Dear  little  lad,  I'm  afraid  Mr.  Bentley 
will  not  want  little  boys  like  you,  and 
besides  how  can  I  let  my  boy  go  away 
from  me  without  my  knowing  anything 
about  where  he  is  going  or  the  people  he 
is  to  be  thrown  with." 

"  I  would  be  good ;  indeed  I  would, 
mother.  I'd  work  awfully  hard,  and  I 
wouldn't  go  with  bad  boys." 


20  Worth  His  While 

"  Well,  my  darling,  I'm  afraid  it  would 
not  be  best  for  me  to  say  yes." 

"  But  if  Mr.  Bentley  should  want  me," 
pleaded  Benny,  "  I  would  be  right  in  the 
country,  mother,  and  I  wouldn't  get  into 
mischief." 

His  mother  smiled  at  this  absolute 
faith  in  the  safety  of  the  place.  Then 
she  was  very  thoughtful.  "If  I  could 
see  Mr.  Bentley  himself,  and  find  out 
more  about  it,"  she  said  finally. 

"  Can't  I  go  and  try  it  for  a  week  ? 
Only  a  week  ?"  begged  Benny. 

"  You  may  do  this — you  may  ask 
Mr.  Bentley  if  he  will  take  you,  and 
if  he  consents,  you  must  tell  him  that 
your  mother  will  see  Mr.  Higgins,  who 
used  to  live  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
that  she  will  probably  send  you  down 
to-morrow.  I  know  where  the  '  Emma 
Jones '  lands,  and  Mr.  Higgins  will 


On  the  Way  to  Big  Creek         21 

know  all  about  it.  I  will  see  him  this 
evening." 

Benny  went  off  highly  pleased  with 
this  concession. 

Long  before  two  o'clock  he  was  waiting 
eagerly  by  the  gangway  of  the  "  Bmina 
Jones  "  for  Mr.  Bentley  to  appear. 

Passengers  began  to  straggle  along ; 
here  a  man  with  a  huge  basket,  there  a 
woman,  followed  by  two  or  three  hot, 
tired  children,  next  two  or  three  negroes, 
ragged  and  happy,  shuffled  lazily  on 
board.  Presently  the  captain  came  up. 
"  Who  are  you  waiting  for,  sonny  ?" 

"  Mr.  Bentley." 

"Jim  Bentley?  I  reckon  he's  on  the 
upper  deck.  I  saw  Welch  up  there,  and 
they  generally  hunt  up  one  another. 
You  go  up  there  and  look  for  him.  You 
might  get  in  the  way  here."  Benny 
found  his  way  on  deck  and  began  looking 


22  Worth  His  While 

along  the  row  of  passengers  for  Mr. 
Bentley,  but  not  seeing  him,  he  sat  down 
and  began  to  watch  the  big  excursion 
steamer  which  lay  in  the  next  dock.  She 
was  dressed  with  flags,  and  the  music  of 
the  band  on  her  deck  made  her  seem  a 
very  gay  sort  of  an  affair  to  Benny. 

He  was  so  busy  watching  the  crowds  of 
people  gathering  aboard  this  big  steamer, 
that  he  did  not  notice  the  warning  sound 
of  a  bell,  nor  the  slow  movement  of  pad- 
dles, till  presently  he  perceived  the  dock 
gliding  from  sight  and  found  that  the 
"  Hmma  Jones  "  was  actually  on  her  way 
to  Big  Creek. 


CHAPTER  II 

BENNY    FINDS    A    FRIEND 

COR  -a  moment  Benny  was  bewildered. 
He  could  not  tell  what  he  ought  to 
do.  He  had  not  been  on  a  steamboat  since 
he  was  quite  a  little  fellow,  and  that  it  was 
possible  to  send  him  ashore  was  out  of  the 
question.  "  What  will  mother  think  ?" 
was  his  first  thought.  "How  shall  I  get 
back?"  was  his  second.  He  stood  look- 
ing around  him,  each  moment  increasing 
the  distance  between  the  steamboat  and 
the  shore. 

"  Hallo !"  cried  a  voice  at  his  side, 
"  what  are  you  doing  here  ?"  And  look- 
ing up,  Benny  saw  the  man  whom  he 
had  talked  to  that  morning  on  the  dock. 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  am  doing,"  he 
23 


24  Worth  His  While 

returned,  in  a  distressed  voice.  "  I'm  get- 
ting carried  off." 

"  Kidnapped,  eh  ?"  Who's  the  fellow 
that's  run  you  aboard  ?" 

Benny  smiled  a  little,  and  told  the  man 
his  story,  ending  with,  "  And  I  haven't 
any  money  to  pay  my  way." 

"  And  you're  afraid  the  captain  will 
throw  you  overboard  to  get  rid  of  you.  Is 
that  it  ?" 

Benny  looked  a  little  disturbed.  He 
didn't  know  just  what  the  captain  might 
do. 

"  Well,  it  won't  break  me  to  pay  fifteen 
cents  for  you,"  the  man  said,  good-na- 
turedly. "  Jim  Bentley  ain't  aboard.  He 
hunted  up  a  lot  of  pickers  and  is  taking 
'em  down  on  his  bug-eye  ;  wanted  to  be 
sure  of  'em  this  time." 

Benny  was  a  little  puzzled  as  to  what  a 
bug-eye  might  be  till  he  remembered  that 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  25 

the  small  sailing  vessels  which  came  up 
from  the  truck  farms  were  so  called  by 
those  familiar  with  the  craft  in  the  bay. 

"Yes,"  continued  the  man,  "Jim's  not 
goin'  to  let  'em  get  away  this  time. 
There's  no  boat  back  this  evening,  so  you 
can't  get  back  home  to-night." 

"  Oh,  what  will  mother  say  ?  She'll  be 
so  worried,"  exclaimed  Benny,  looking 
ready  to  cry. 

"Sho!  that's  too  bad.  How'll  we  fix 
it?  You  might  find  a  chance  to  get  back 
real  late.  There  are  lots  of  boats  that  get 
loaded  up  and  start  off  through  the  night 
so  as  to  get  the  loads  in  for  the  hucksters 
by  sun-up  or  earlier ;  but  it  seems  to  me 
as  long  as  you'll  be  really  down  there 
you  might  as  well  try  pickin'.  I'd  give 
you  a  job  myself,  but  I  don't  have  any 
crop.  I  keep  a  store  at  the  Cross  Roads. 
Let  me  see.  How'll  we  fix  it  ?"  And  the 


26  Worth  His  While 

man  rubbed  his  stubby  beard  thought- 
fully. 

Presently  he  slapped  Benny  on  the 
shoulder,  as  a  bright  idea  came  to  him. 
"  I  know  I"  he  exclaimed ;  "  we'll  drive 
'round  by  Sanders's.  He's  got  a  tele- 
phone, and  I'll  ask  him  to  telephone  up 
to  Dick  Bond's,  at  the  railroad  station, 
then  Dick  can  telegraph  to  your  mother 
that  you're  all  right,  and  that  she'll  hear 
from  you  later.  How'll  that  do  ?" 

Benny's  face  beamed.  "  Fine,"  he  re- 
sponded, gratefully,  although  he  was  but 
half  aware  of  the  trouble  and  expense  to 
which  the  kind  man  was  placing  himself 
on  the  little  boy's  account. 

"  All  right.  It's  a  go.  My  name  is 
Welch.  I'll  take  you  home  with  me. 
We'll  find  a  corner  for  you  somewhere, 
and  to-morrow  you  can  go  to  see  Jim 
Bentley.  Like  as  not  Jim'll  be  over  him- 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  27 

self  in  the  morning.  So  just  make  your- 
self easy." 

It  was  evident  that  Benny's  honest  little 
face  had  taken  the  man's  fancy,  and  for 
the  rest  of  the  trip  the  boy  was  treated  as 
a  guest 'by  Mr.  Welch. 

The  small  steamboat  was  pushing  its 
way  along  steadily  by  this  time,  and 
Benny  gave  himself  up  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  occasion.  Far  off  a  broad  expanse 
of  blue  water,  dotted  with  white  sails, 
touched  the  horizon ;  on  each  side  could 
be  seen  banks  of  vivid  green  ;  an  old  half- 
ruined  fort  loomed  up  before  them.  Benny 
could  see  through  the  open  gateway 
flowers  blooming  in  the  inclosure ;  a  big 
dog  lay  sleeping  upon  a  strong  parapet. 
So  peaceful  and  quiet  did  the  fort  look 
that  one  could  scarcely  imagine  that 
there  had  been  a  time  when  threaten- 
ing cannon  pointed  from  those  walls  and 


28  Worth  His  While 

that  armed  men  stood  behind  the  strong 
embrasure. 

Just  beyond  the  fort  the  "  Emma  Jones  " 
turned  into  a  broad  creek,  along  the  shores 
of  which  were  little  landings  where  sail- 
boats and  rowboats  were  moored.  The  tall 
trees  were  reflected  in  the  placid  waters, 
and  Benny  caught  sight  of  pink  flowers 
dotting  the  green  of  the  woods.  It  seemed 
a  perfect  paradise  to  him.  Oh,  how  Kitty 
would  like  to  see  it !  His  mother  had  told 
him  of  just  such  places,  but  he  had  not 
half  realized  how  beautiful  they  could  be. 

Every  now  and  then  the  boat  stopped 
to  let  off  passengers  and  freight  till  at  the 
head  of  the  creek  the  last  landing  was 
made,  and  Benny  followed  his  good  friend 
ashore. 

A  motley  collection  of  vehicles  awaited 
the  arrival  of  the  steamer.  Here  was  a 
spring  wagon  drawn  by  a  mule;  there 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  29 

a  substantial  looking  Dayton ;  soberly 
standing  nnder  a  tree  were  two  oxen  har- 
nessed to  a  small  cart  painted  bright  blue. 
An  old  colored  woman  in  a  purple  sun- 
bonnet  drove  the  oxen. 

Into  -a  big  wagon  Mr.  Welch  packed 
various  barrels  and  bundles,  and  Benny 
soon  found  himself  placed  betwen  an  old 
colored  man  and  Mr.  Welch,  while  the 
horses  trotted  briskly  along  the  white- 
shelled  road. 

"  We're  going  round  by  Sanders's," 
said  Mr.  Welch  to  the  driver  ;  and  this 
arrangement  having  been  complied  with, 
all  fears  as  to  his  mother's  anxiety  disap- 
peared as  Benny  was  told  by  Mr.  Welch 
that  he  had  made  matters  all  right.  "  I 
told  Bill  to  turn  on  his  'phone,  and  I 
waited,  so  he'd  get  the  message  straight. 
I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it  was  going  over 
the  wire  this  minute.  I  told  him.  to  say, 


30  Worth  His  While 

1  Ben  in  safe  hands.  Made  trip  by  mis- 
take. Nobody's  fault.'  That'll  let  her 
know  yon  aren't  to  blame,  and  it'll  ease 
her  mind.  I  know  how  mothers  feel. 
Had  one  myself." 

The  little  country  store,  before  which 
they  finally  drew  up,  was  a  long  white 
building  ;  a  pretty  lawn  was  on  one  side 
and  a  garden  in  the  rear.  Outbuildings, 
a  stable  and  henhouse,  woodhouse  and 
corn  crib,  showed  that  it  was  a  true 
country  home.  There  was  a  little  church 
across  the  way,  a  blacksmith  shop  not  far 
off,  and  between  the  two  half  a  dozen 
houses  were  scattered.  These  constituted 
the  village  of  Jennings's  Cross  Roads. 

Benny  clambered  down  from  the  wagon 
and  lent  a  willing  hand  to  the  unloading 
of  it,  depositing  the  parcels  on  the  porch 
in  front  of  the  store,  not  pausing  till  the 
last  bundle  was  safe. 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  31 

"  Hot  work,"  said  Mr.  Welch.  "  You've 
earned  your  supper,  Ben  ;  come,  let's  see 
what  mother  has  for  us." 

A  rosy-faced  woman  stood  on  a  side  step 
as  Benny  and  Mr.  Welch  made  their  way 
to  the  pump  in  the  back  yard. 

"  Got  back,  Thad  ?"  she  said,  pleas- 
antly. 

"  Yes,  and  brought  company,"  was  the 
reply.  "  That's  my  wife,  Ben."  "  Got 
room  for  a  city  visitor,  Sue  ?" 

Mrs.  Welch  looked  curiously  at  Benny. 
"  Why,  yes,  I  reckon  so,"  she  answered, 
and  then  she  joined  them  at  the  pump, 
where  Mr.  Welch  began  vigorously  to 
wash  his  face  and  hands,  telling  his  wife 
meanwhile  of  Benny's  adventures. 

"  That's  just  like  you,  Thad,"  she  re- 
marked, as  he  concluded.  But  a  pleased 
smile  showed  that  she  approved  of  just 
such  proceedings  herself.  "  Come,  sup- 


32  Worth  His  While 

per's  ready,"  she  said,  and  led  the  way  to 
the  dining-room. 

Benny  never  forgot  that  snpper.  Hot 
biscuits  and  broiled  ham ;  fried  potatoes 
and  radishes  ;  a  great  bowl  of  huge  straw- 
berries served  with  thick,  yellow  cream  ; 
home-made  sponge  cake,  and  milk  in  un- 
limited supply. 

Mr.  Welch  kept  piling  up  his  plate, 
with  due  appreciation  of  a  boy's  appetite, 
till  Benny  felt  that  this  was  a  land  of 
plenty  indeed,  his  only  regret  being  that 
he  could  not  share  this  feast  with  his 
mother  and  Kitty.  Never  in  all  his  life 
had  he  eaten  such  a  meal. 

A  little  girl  about  Benny's  age  sat  op- 
posite him ;  another,  four  or  five  }^ears 
older,  and  a  boy  nearly  grown  made  up 
the  additional  members  of  the  family. 

"  Now,  Jennie,"  said  Mrs.  Welch  to  her 
younger  daughter,  as  they  rose  from  the 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  33 

table,  u  take  Ben  with  you  to  feed  the 
chickens  ;  I'll  venture  to  say  he  won't 
find  a  nicer  lot  anywhere." 

Jennie  smiled  an  invitation  over  her 
shoulder,  and  Benny  followed  her  into  the 
poultry  yard,  where  he  saw  chickens  of  all 
sizes,  cunning  yellow  ducklings,  and  a 
flock  of  little  turkeys.  Then  she  took 
him  to  the  barn  and  displayed  to  his  de- 
lighted eyes  some  little  collie  puppies. 

"  How  I  should  like  to  have  one,  that 
dear  little  fellow  with  a  white  spot  on  his 
forehead,  for  instance,"  thought  Benny  ; 
and  Jennie,  as  if  reading  his  thoughts, 
said : 

"  Now,  if  you  only  had  a  place  where 
you  could  keep  a  dog,  Joe  would  give  you 
one  of  these,  I  know." 

It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  family  were 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  this  little  can- 
didate for  the  office  of  strawberry  picker, 

3 


34  Worth  His  While 

for  Benny's  childish  confidences  were 
given  honestly  and  freely. 

He  went  to  sleep  that  night  in  a  small 
attic  room;  a  tall  locust  tree  hanging 
white  blooms  about  the  little  dormer  win- 
dow, and  the  sound  of  a  whippoorwill's 
cry  being  his  last  conscious  recollection 
before  he  went  to  sleep.  He  was  awak- 
ened by  stirring  sounds  out  of  doors  and 
in,  and  by  the  time  he  was  ready  for  a 
descent  to  the  lower  floor  found  that  the 
family  were  up  and  all  at  work. 

Breakfast  was  not  less  bountiful  than 
supper,  and  after  came  a  second  visit  to 
the  puppies,  during  which  time  he  was 
called  in  the  store  to  confront  Mr. 
Bentley. 

It  was  evident  that  the  way  to  a  con- 
ference had  been  well  paved  by  Mr.  Welch, 
for  Mr.  Bentley's  greeting  was,  "  Well, 
boy,  you  want  to  join  my  pickers,  I  hear." 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  35 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Benny. 

"  How  will  you  manage  about  your 
meals  ?  They  do  their  own  cooking,  you 
know." 

Benny  didn't  know,  and  his  heart  sank, 
but  Mr.  Welch's  kind  voice  came  in  with 
the  question,  "  'Twouldn't  put  you  out 
much  to  let  him  eat  with  your  regular 
farm  hands,  would  it  ?" 

"  No-o,"  returned  Mr.  Bentley,  "  I  don't 
reckon  it  would."  And  then  turning  to 
Benny  he  said,  "  Well,  my  boy,  you'll 
find  a  pretty  rough  set — Bohemians,  and 
Italians,  and  Poles,  and  I  don't  know  what 
all — but  if  you've  a  mind  to  try  it,  I'll 
take  you  along  and  give  you  a  chance  ; 
that's  what  you  want,  I  suppose." 

"  It  isn't  so  hot  to-day,  must  have  been 
a  storm  somewhere,  last  night,  Thad." 

"  Yes,"  returned  Mr.  Welch,  "  must 
have  been  ;  I  saw  thunder  heads  off  to- 


36  Worth  His  While 

ward  the  northwest ;  they  must  have  got 
it  down  Broad  Neck  way." 

"  Well  I've  no  time  to  lose,"  said  Mr. 
Bentley  ;  "  come  along,  boy,  I'll  give  you 
a  lift  over  our  way ;"  and  Benny,  with  a 
strong  regret  at  leaving  this  kind  family 
at  the  Cross  Roads,  climbed  up  beside 
Mr.  Bentley  in  his  road  cart,  and  after  a 
ride  of  a  mile  saw  a  white  house  at  the 
end  of  a  long  lane. 

"  That's  my  place,"  said  Mr.  Bentley. 
"I'll  let  you  off  at  the  strawberry  field,  and 
when  you  hear  the  dinner  horn  come  up 
to  the  house.  That  man  sitting  under  the 
tree  yonder  is  keeping  tally.  Every  dozen 
boxes  you  pick  you  take  'em  up  there  and 
he'll  give  you  a  little  wooden  check,  so 
that  we  both  can  keep  count  of  what  you 
pick.  Each  check  means  so  much,  and 
you  can  earn  as  much  or  as  little  as  you've 
the  will  to  do.  There's  a  board  over 


Benny  Finds  a  Friend  37 

yonder   to    carry  your  boxes    on.     Now, 
we'll  see  what  you  can  do." 

And  Benny  was  left  in  the  big  straw- 
berry field  amid  a  motley  crew  of 
foreigners,  strong  misgivings  at  heart, 
and  a  little  feeling  of  homesickness  com- 
ing over  him  as  he  faced  the  reality  of  a 
day's  work  in  the  hot  sun,  with  no  one  to 
speak  to  him  but  strangers.  He  picked 
up  courage,  however,  wondering,  as  he 
started  to  work,  how  much  he  could  earn, 
and  when  his  mother  would  get  the  queer, 
blotchy  little  letter  he  had  written  to  her 
the  night  before. 


CHAPTER  III 

AMONG   THE    PICKERS 

DENNY  was  not  a  saint  by  any  means. 
He  was  just  as  full  of  faults  as  many 
other  boys,  but  lie  had  a  warm,  generous 
heart,  and  had  been  carefully  brought  up, 
so,  even  if  he  was  not  always  as  thought- 
ful as  he  might  be,  and  sometimes  forgot 
to  be  promptly  obedient,  he  was  at  least 
truthful,  honest,  and  pure  in  heart,  a  fact 
which  made  the  boys  in  his  neighbor- 
hood call  him  "  old  Particular,"  or  "  old 
Partick  "  for  short.  He  was  used  to  pretty 
rough  company  sometimes,  but  he  had 
never  been  thrown  with  quite  such  a 
crowd  as  that  which  surrounded  him  in 
the  strawberry  patch.  Coarse,  boorish 
men,  vixenish,  loud-voiced  women,  who 

38 


IT  WAS  XOT  VERY  PLEASANT  WORK 


Among  the  Pickers  39 

jostled  and  elbowed  him  at  times,  the 
younger  ones  teasing  and  badgering  him 
in  queer  broken  English. 

It  was  not  very  pleasant  work  to  stoop 
over  the  vines  with  the  sun  beating  down 
on  his  'head,  and  his  fingers  becoming 
weary  of  the  constant  picking.  There- 
fore the  first  half  a  day  Benny  did  not 
make  much  headway,  and  was  glad 
enough  when  twelve  o'clock  came,  and 
the  pickers  trooped  to  their  quarters, 
leaving  Benny  to  find  his  way  to  the 
house,  where  he  was  to  take  his  meals  in 
the  kitchen  with  the  farm  hands.  A 
coarse,  but  plentiful  meal,  was  provided  ; 
it  consisted  of  bacon,  cabbage,  and  corn 
bread,  and  Benny  was  hungry  enough  to 
eat  heartily. 

As  he  was  returning  to  the  field,  he 
spied  a  pretty  little  girl  about  three  years 
of  age  sitting  on  the  kitchen  step  playing 


40  Worth  His  While 

with  a  kitten.  She  smiled  up  at  Benny 
and  began  to  chatter  to  him  in  her  baby 
way,  so  that  he  could  not  resist  stopping 
to  talk  to  her,  and  while  she  was  laugh- 
ing merrily  at  some  of  his  tricks  her  lit- 
tle brother,  a  couple  of  years  older,  came 
around  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  the 
three  were  soon  having  a  very  jolly  time. 
But  Benny  suddenly  became  aware  that 
he  was  wasting  too  much  time,  and  made 
ready  to  go  back  to  his  work. 

"Don't  go,"  begged  the  little  boy. 
"Pleathe  don't  go,"  lisped  the  little 
girl. 

"I  must,"  returned  Benny.  "I  have 
work  to  do." 

"  Come  back  soon,"  shouted  the  little 
boy  after  him,  "  I  like  you."  And  Benny 
went  on,  somewhat  cheered  by  these  new 
friends  he  had  made. 

It  was,  nevertheless,  a  long  day,  and 


Among  the  Pickers  41 

when  the  evening  carne  he  crept  off  by 
himself  to  listen  to  the  whippoorwills 
and  to  look  at  the  bright  stars  shining 
over  the  tops  of  the  trees. 

"  The  country's  nice  enough,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "  but  it  isn't  much  fun  to  be  a 
picker."  Then  he  thought  of  his  mother 
and  sister  in  the  narrow,  hot  street,  and 
wished  they  were  with  him.  A  sound  of 
wild  mirth,  of  snatches  of  song,  of 
wrangling  and  shouting  came  to  him 
from  the  pickers'  quarters.  He  dreaded 
returning  to  their  midst  and  wished  that 
he  could  sleep  in  the  little  white  bed  at 
Mr.  Welch's  or  in  his  own  tiny  room  at 
home,  instead  of  in  one  of  those  queer- 
looking  bunks  roughly  made  of  boards 
and  built  along  the  sides  of  the  room. 

If  his  mother  could  have  seen  her  boy 
that  night  asleep  in  that  crowd  of  strange- 
looking  persons,  she  would  have  been 


42  Worth  His  While 

even  more  concerned  than  she  was  for  his 
welfare. 

Two  or  three  days  passed  and  Benny 
became  more  used  to  his  surroundings. 
He  made  friends  with  some  of  the  pick- 
ers, who  took  him  under  their  protection 
when  one  big  boy  bullied  him  ;  but  still  he 
felt  strange  and  out  of  place  among  them. 

It  was  on  the  second  day  that  he  was 
elbowed  out  of  his  place,  before  some 
particularly  well-filled  vines,  by  a  big, 
scowling  Polish  boy,  who  said,  "  You  no 
beezness  here,  zis  is  for  me." 

"  I'd  like  to  know  why,"  replied  Benny, 
manfully. 

"  I  come  first,"  retorted  the  boy,  thrust- 
ing Benny  aside. 

"  You  may  have  come  first  to  Mr.  Bent- 
ley's,  but  I  came  to  this  place  first,  and  I'm 
going  to  stay,"  continued  Benny,  valiantly 
holding  his  position. 


Among  the  Pickers  43 

The  big  boy  doubled  up  his  fists  threat- 
eningly, and  muttered  something  in  a  for- 
eign tongue.  Then  he  made  a  dash  at 
Benny,  but  just  as  he  reached  him  he 
was  caught  by  the  shoulder  and  a  voice 
said,  "'Here,  here,  none  of  this!  Get 
back  to  your  place,  you  big  fellow.  You 
belong  farther  up  the  line,"  and  Benny 
saw  that  the  overseer  was  at  his  side. 
"  That's  an  ugly  chap,"  he  said  to  Benny, 
as  Ivan  departed,  muttering.  "  I'm  sorry 
we  brought  him.  He  doesn't  seem  to 
make  friends,  and  is  a  pretty  mean 
enemy.  You'd  better  keep  out  of  his 
way.  If  he  cuts  up  too  high,  just  let  me 
know,  and  I'll  drop  him." 

Benny  went  back  to  his  work  much 
relieved,  but  it  was  evident  that  from 
henceforth  Ivan  bore  him  a  grudge.  He 
tried  in  numerous  ways  to  annoy  the 
little  boy.  Once  he  roughly  ran  against 


44  Worth  His  While 

him,  upsetting  his  load  of  a  dozen  boxes 
of  strawberries  which  Benny  was  carry- 
ing on  a  board  to  where  Mr.  Bentley  was 
keeping  tally.  This  meant  loss  of  time 
as  well  as  of  berries,  for  some  of  them 
were  too  crushed  to  be  returned  to  their 
boxes,  and  Benny  with  rage  in  his  heart, 
but  with  a  helpless  feeling,  gathered  up 
his  fruit  as  best  he  could,  knowing  that 
what  to  the  casual  observer  looked  like  an 
accident,  was,  in  fact,  an  act  of  spite  on 
the  part  of  Ivan. 

Another  time  Benny  had  placed  eleven 
boxes  on  a  board  and  was  filling  the 
twelfth  when  Ivan  deftly  caught  up  the 
board  and  disappeared  with  it ;  so  when 
Benny  turned  around  it  was  nowhere  to 
be  seen. 

"  Where  are  my  berries  ?"  he  exclaimed, 
but  there  seemed  to  be  no  one  who  had 
seen  the  berries  disappear,  and  Benny, 


Among  the  Pickers  45 

cheated  a  second  time,  felt  as  if  he  could 
cry.  There  was  such  a  woe-begone  look 
on  his  face  that  Mr.  Bentley  noticed  it 
when  he  next  canie  up. 

"  What's  the  matter,  boy  ?"  he  said. 
"Want  to  go  home?"  And  Benny,  in 
the  fullness  of  his  heart,  told  him  what 
was  wrong. 

"Sho!"  he  returned.  "That's  a  shame. 
Still  we've  no  proof  as  to  who  took  them. 
You'll  have  to  watch  sharp.  This  is  a 
pretty  mean  gang  I  have  here  this  year. 
I  had  to  take  what  I  could  get.  Don't 
you  want  to  go  over  to  the  store  for  me 
instead  of  picking  this  afternoon  ?  I 
haven't  anyone  I  can  spare  to  send,  and 
my  wife  wants  the  mail,  and  two  or 
three  things  I  forgot  to  get  when  I 
was  over  last.  She  hauled  me  over  the 
coals  for  forgetting.  I'll  give  you  just 
the  same  as  if  you  were  picking,  and 


46  Worth  His  While 

I   think   I   can   trust  you   not  to  waste 
your  time." 

Benny's  face  brightened,  and  after  re- 
ceiving his  instructions  he  started  off 
heartily  glad  for  the  business  which  took 
him  again  to  kind  Mr.  Welch's. 

His  way  led  through  the  pines  a  short 
distance,  then  through  another  piece  of 
woods,  and  over  the  shell  road  till  he 
came  to  the  cross  roads. 

Little  Jennie  was  the  first  to  spy 
him  as  he  came  up.  "  Hallo,  Ben,"  she 
said.  "Aren't  you  going  to  stay  at  Mr. 
Bentley's?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  but  he  sent  me  over  for  the 
mail,  and  for  some  things  Mrs.  Bentley 
wanted." 

"  I  hoped  you'd  stay.  Father  has  a 
letter  for  you ;  it  came  down  on  the  boat 
with  a  bundle  of  clothes  your  mother 
sent." 


Among  the  Pickers  47 

Benny  hurried  into  the  store  to  hear 
what  Mr.  Welch  had  to  say,  and  to  re- 
ceive his  package.  At  sight  of  his 
mother's  little  letter  he  felt  a  great  long- 
ing to  see  her.  "  Kitty  is  not  very  well. 
She  misses  you  sadly,"  wrote  his  mother. 
"  I'm  glad  my  boy  is  tr}dng  to  help  me, 
but  I  shall  be  even  more  glad  to  see  him 
again." 

Benny  looked  at  rosy  little  Jennie  and 
sighed. 

"  What  makes  you  so  solemn  ?"  she 
asked.  "  What  are  you  thinking  about  ?" 

"  I  was  wishing  my  little  sister  was  as 
rosy  and  round  as  you  are,  and  had  such 
nice  pink  cheeks,"  replied  Benny. 

Jennie  laughed,  and  then  she  asked, 
"  Why,  is  she  sick  ?" 

"  Yes,  kind  of  sick.  She  never  was 
very  strong.  The  doctor  says  she  ought 
to  live  in  the  country." 


48  Worth  His  While 

Jennie's  round  face  took  on  a  serious 
look,  and  presently  she  went  up  to  her 
father  and  whispered  something.  "  That 
must  be  as  your  mother  says,"  he  an- 
swered, giving  a  snap  to  the  string 
with  which  he  was  tying  up  Benny's 
packages. 

"  Can  you  manage  all  these  pack- 
ages and  your  bundle  ?"  he  asked  the 
boy. 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Benny.  "  These  things 
aren't  heavy,  and  my  bundle  hasn't 
much  in  it.  I  can  easily  take  them 
all." 

"  Sorry  you  can't  stay  to  tea,"  said  Mr. 
Welch.  "  Come  over  and  spend  Sunday 
with  us  ;  can't  you  ?" 

"  I  should  like  to,"  replied  Benny, 
delightedly. 

"  Come  over  Saturday  night — you 
might  as  well — and  go  to  Sunday  school 


Among  the  Pickers  49 

with  the  children ;  they'd  like  to  have 
you." 

"  Poor  little  youngster,"  he  said,  as 
Benny  turned  away  with  a  happier  face 
than  he  had  worn  when  he  came.  "  I 
like  the  'little  chap.  I  started  out  pretty 
young  myself,  and  I  know  what  it  is." 

Benny  turned  to  go  back  with  a  light 
step.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and 
already  growing  shadowy  in  the  deep 
pine  grove  through  which  he  had  to  pass. 
He  was  not  afraid,  however,  for  he  had 
sense  enough  to  know  that  there  were 
neither  bears  nor  wildcats  thereabouts, 
and  he  did  not  even  consider  whether  he 
would  encounter  a  snake.  He  caught 
sight  of  a  gray  squirrel  scampering  up 
a  tree,  and  saw  a  clumsy  land  turtle  trav- 
eling slowly  along. 

"  I  never  saw  one  of  those  queer  chaps 
before,"  said  Benny  to  himself.  "  Isn't  it 

4 


50  Worth  His  While 

funny  how  they  carry  their  houses  on 
their  backs  ?  It's  mighty  convenient,  I 
suppose,  but  I  think  I  should  find  it 
rather  tiresome.  Oh,  there's  a  rabbit. 
My !  but  there's  a  lot  of  things  to  see  in 
the  woods.  Kver  so  many  people  live 
here,  for  all  they  keep  out  of  sight  most 
of  the  time."  And  Benny  chuckled  to 
himself  at  the  thought. 

He  kept  on  steadily  till  he  was  about 
in  the  middle  of  the  woods,  when  pres- 
ently there  came  from  the  thicket  close 
by  a  sound  between  a  growl  and  a  moan, 
and  the  boy  stood  still  to  listen.  The 
sound  was  repeated,  and  this  time  it 
sounded  nearer.  Benny  was  no  coward, 
but  it  must  be  confessed  that  his  heart 
misgave  him,  and  for  a  moment  he  stood 
uncertain  whether  to  run  or  whether  to 
investigate  the  matter. 

"  I'll  see  what  it  is,  I  won't  be  silly," 


Among  the  Pickers  51 

lie  told  himself.  "  Maybe  somebody  is 
hurt  in  there."  And  he  dauntlessly  fol- 
lowed the  sound  as  a  cry  of  distress 
reached  his  ears.  Then  he  seized  a  stick 
and  rushed  forward. 


CHAPTER  IV 

•  A   HIDDEN   ENEMY 

A  S  Benny  dashed  valiantly  into  the 
^^  thicket  he  was  seized  by  the  leg 
and  pulled  to  the  ground,  while  some  one 
jumped  up  from  the  bushes,  and  he  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  Ivan,  who  gave 
an  evil  grin,  and  said,  "  There  young 
feller,  I  have  you  now,  I  make  you  pay." 
Benny's  heart  stood  still ;  he  knew  he 
was  not  able  to  cope  with  this  big,  power- 
ful fellow,  but  he  struggled  to  his  feet  and 
stood  silently  regarding  his  enemy,  who 
still  held  him  fast.  Then  he  looked 
around  helplessly  for  a  way  of  escape,  but 
only  the  dark,  sombre  forest  spread  around 
him,  and  he  knew  if  he  should  attempt  to 
run,  that  he  would  be  very  speedily  over- 

52 


A  Hidden  Enemy  53 

taken.  Then  he  thought  of  the  errand 
upon  which  he  had  been  sent  and  which 
he  had  hoped  to  execute  promptly  and 
well.  Mr.  Bentley  had  said  he  trusted 
him. 

Ivan's  hand  continued  to  clutch  him  as 
he  stood  scowling  above  him. 

"  I  must  take  these  things  to  Mrs. 
Bentley,"  began  Benny,  helplessly. 

"  No,"  said  Ivan,  "  you  do  not  take. 
You  lose  them,  also  the  bundles." 

A  wave  of  dismay  surged  over  Benny. 

;<  What  do  you  say  that  for?  I  never 
did  anything  to  you,"  he  protested. 

"  You  have  done  to  me.  You  have 
made  the  eye  of  Mr.  Bentley  look  me  sus- 
pect. He  give  me  the  harsh  word.  I  will 
not  have.  It  is  you  who  have  done  that 
to  me." 

Benny  was  silent.  He  had  told  Mr. 
Bentley  of  Ivan's  constant  little  sly  ac- 


54  Worth  His  While 

tions,  done  to  provoke  him  and  work  him 
trouble,  and  Mr.  Beiitley  had  told  the  over- 
seer to  watch  the  Polish  boy.  All  this 
Benny  well  knew,  and  he  wished  he  had 
kept  his  own  counsel. 

"  You  are  to  me  disagreeable,"  con- 
tinued Ivan,  "  and  now  you  are  to  be 
made  take  the  disagreeable.  You  are  to 
leave  these  things  here,  and  to  say  you 
have  lose,  or  I  will  beat  you." 

Poor  Benny  !  This  was  a  hard  alterna- 
tive, to  be  untrue  to  the  trust  placed  in 
him,  to  be  false  to  himself  and  his  em- 
ployer, or  to  suffer  bodily  hurt.  Then  he 
suddenly  remembered  his  father,  and  that 
he  had  once  said,  "  Never  be  afraid  of 
bodily  hurt ;  that  can  get  well  and  show 
no  sign,  but  what  hurts  your  character 
leaves  a  worse  scar." 

His  lip  quivered,  but  he  said,  bravely, 
"  I  shall  not  leave  the  things  here."  Then 


A  Hidden  Enemy  55 

with  one  swift  movement  lie  broke  away 
from  Ivan,  jumped  over  the  bushes,  picked 
up  his  packages,  and  started  to  run.  Ivan 
having  quickly  recovered  from  the  sur- 
prise, followed. 

On,  on,  Benny  ran,  each  moment  ex- 
pecting to  feel  Ivan's  rough  grasp  on  his 
shoulder.  But  at  a  sudden  cry  from  the 
Polish  boy  he  turned  his  head,  to  see  Ivan 
wildly  leaping  in  an  opposite  direction 
over  bushes  and  logs  ;  and  making  the 
best  of  his  chances,  Benny  proceeded  to 
get  out  of  the  woods  as  soon  as  possible 
without  waiting  to  see  what  was  wrong 
with  his  pursuer.  And  before  long  he 
was  on  the  open  road. 

"  I  wonder  what  was  the  matter  with 
him,"  thought  Benny.  "  He  acted  as  if 
he  were  scared  to  death  ;  as  if  he  thought 
something  was  after  him." 

He  never  did  find  out  what  had  fright- 


56  Worth  His  While 

ened  Ivan,  but  the  truth  of  the  matter  was 
that  a  big  black  suake,  of  the  variety 
called  familiarly  a  "  racer,"  had  appeared 
in  the  path  between  Ivan  and  his  victim, 
and  Ivan  had  been  terrified  at  sight  of  the 
creature  which  seemed  about  to  pursue 
him  as  he  was  pursuing  Benny.  So  in 
great  fright  he  turned  and  fled,  and  only 
overcame  his  fear  sufficiently  to  return  to 
the  house  long  after  Benny  was  safe  be- 
yond his  reach. 

But  the  encounter  gave  Benny  suffi- 
cient anxiety  to  make  him  very  cautious 
about  meeting  Ivan,  and  he  was  in  a  state 
of  nervous  terror  whenever  Ivan  came 
near  him  in  the  strawberry  field,  while  he 
was  filled  with  apprehension  when  he 
thought  about  undertaking  another  trip 
to  Mr.  Welch's. 

But  fortune  again  favored  him,  for  when 
he  went  to  the  house  the  next  morning 


A  Hidden  Enemy  57 

for  breakfast  he  missed  from  the  kitchen 
the  old  colored  cook,  and  found  in  her 
place  Mrs.  Bentley  looking  anxious  and 
worried. 

"  You'll  have  to  make  out  the  best  you 
can  this  morning,"  she  said,  turning  to 
the  hands.  "  Roxy  is  sick,  and  there 
isn't  a  soul  to  help  me.  I'm  at  my  wits' 
ends  ;  picking  season,  and  so  much  to  do, 
and  I  hardly  know  which  way  to  turn." 

"  Don't  you  bother  about  us,"  said  one 
of  the  men,  "  we'll  make  out." 

Benny  watched  the  slight  little  woman 
lifting  heavy  pots  and  pans  from  the  stove, 
and  sprang  to  help  her. 

All  the  time  he  was  eating  his  break- 
fast there  was  a  struggle  going  on  within 
him.  He  felt  that  he  ought  to  offer  to 
help  Mrs.  Bentley,  but  that  meant  giving 
up  his  earnings  in  the  strawberry  field ; 
on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  a  great 


58  Worth  His  While 

relief  to  be  out  of  Ivan's  way,  and  per- 
haps that  fact  as  much  as  his  real  gener- 
osity made  him  linger,  after  the  men  had 
left  the  kitchen,  to  say,  shyly,  "  Can  I 
help  you  ?" 

Mrs.  Bentley  turned  in  surprise.  "  You? 
Why,  what  can  you  do  ?" 

"  I  can  wash  dishes ;  I  often  do  for 
mother.  I  wash,  and  sister  wipes  ;  and  I 
can  sweep  up,  too.  Besides  I  can  amuse 
the  children  and  keep  them  out  of  the 
way."  This  last  was  said  with  great 
seriousness,  as  if  he  had  long  since  left 
childhood  behind  him. 

Mrs.  Bentley  looked  at  the  stout  little 
figure,  at  the  round,  good-humored 
freckled  face,  the  brown  hair  plastered 
back  by  two  wet  hands,  at  the  neatly 
patched  clothes,  and  faded,  well  worn, 
though  clean,  shirt  waist,  and  her  face 
took  on  an  expression  of  relief. 


A  Hidden  Enemy  59 

"  That  will  be  a  great  help,"  she  said. 
"  I  shall  be  glad  enough  to  have  you 
stay.  My  husband  told  me  that  you  did 
not  belong  to  the  gang  of  pickers  that  he 
brought  down,  but  he  didn't  know  he 
was  employing  a  helper  for  me  when  he 
took  you.  Your  name  is  Ben,  isn't  it  ? 
Well,  Ben,  you  sha'n't  lose  by  it."  And 
for  the  rest  of  the  day  Benny  found  him- 
self Mrs.  Bentley's  right-hand  man.  He 
smiled  once  or  twice  at  his  odd  posi- 
tion, and  wondered  what  the  boys  would 
say — the  boys  who  were  now,  probably, 
playing  "  knuckle  down  "  in  the  street. 
How  they  would  make  fun  of  him  and 
call  him  "  Miss  Betty."  Well,  it  didn't 
matter ;  they  were  probably  quarreling 
over  their  marbles,  while  he  was  feeding 
chickens  and  washing  dishes. 

Mrs.  Bentley  watched  him  narrowly, 
especially  when  during  a  moment's  res- 


60  Worth  His  While 

pite  from  kitchen  work  he  played  horse 
for  the  children. 

Bnt  the  black-browed  Polish  boy,  Ivan, 
coming  np  to  the  pump  for  water,  scowled 
as  he  saw  the  little  fellow  so  at  home  with 
the  children.  "Sneakee!"  he  growled  at 
Benny. 

The  boy's  face  flushed.  "  I'm  not  a 
sneak,"  he  replied.  "  I  don't  know  what 
you  mean  by  saying  that." 

"  You  very  fine,  very  good,"  Ivan  re- 
plied. "  I  pay.  You  see." 

"  What  does  make  him  hate  me 
so  ?"  thought  Benny.  "  I'm  not  hurt- 
ing him.  I  believe  he's  jealous."  And 
at  the  thought  he  smiled.  Ivan  look- 
ing over  his  shoulder  saw  the  smile 
and  shook  his  fist  as  he  vanished  down 
the  path. 

Little  Alice  put  up  a  scared  face,  and 
clung  to  Benny,  who  took  her  in  his  arms 


A  Hidden  Enemy  61 

and  comforted  her,  and  soon  all  fear  of 
Ivan  had  left  the  little  group. 

Ivan,  however,  did  not  forget,  for  when 
Benny,  whistling  cheerily,  went  to  the 
dairy  at  Mrs.  Bentley's  bidding,  Ivan, 
who  was'  on  the  watch  for  some  such  pro- 
ceeding, saw  the  boy  go  down  the  hill, 
and  a  gleam  of  satisfaction  came  over  his 
face,  as,  leaving  his  work,  he  followed. 
Benny  was  bearing  a  crock  of  milk  up  to 
the  house  when  suddenly  something 
whizzed  through  the  air  and  struck 
sharply  against  the  crock,  breaking  it, 
spilling  its  contents  all  over  the  ground, 
and  flooding  the  boy's  feet  with  a  milky 
torrent. 

Poor  little  Benny  knew  not  what  to  do. 
For  a  moment  he  was  tempted  to  hide  the 
pieces,  go  back  to  the  dairy,  get  another 
crock,  and  say  nothing  about  the  matter ; 
but  almost  instantly  he  recoiled  from  the 


62  Worth  His  While 

temptation  and  told  himself  lie  was  a 
coward  for  even  thinking  of  such  a  thing, 
and  therefore  bearing  the  broken  pieces 
back  to  the  house,  he  showed  them  to 
Mrs.  Bentley.  "  I  am  awfully  sorry,"  he 
faltered.  "  I  don't  know  how  it  happened. 
Something  seemed  to  come  out  of  the  air 
and  strike  the  crock.  I  didn't  see  any- 
body, and  can't  imagine  how  it  happened." 

Mrs.  Bentley  looked  a  little  suspiciously 
at  the  boy.  It  was  natural  for  boys  to 
make  excuses,  she  reasoned,  and  it  was 
on  the  point  of  her  tongue  to  say  that  she 
had  very  frequently  been  told  of  break- 
ages which  had  occurred  by  articles 
coming  to  pieces  in  her  servant's  hands 
in  some  mysterious  way,  when  they  were 
broken  through  carelessness;  but  just 
here  little  Jamie  piped  up  : 

"  I  know  how  it  happened.  That  ugly, 
big  boy,  one  of  the  pickers,  threw  a  stone 


A  Hidden  Enemy  63 

at  Ben.  I  saw  him ;  he  was  hiding  in 
the  bushes  by  the  spring  and  he  ran." 

"  It  was  Ivan,"  cried  Benny.  "  I  know 
it  was."  And  upon  being  questioned  he 
gave  some  account  of  the  persecutions 
he  had  endured,  while  Mrs.  Bentley 
listened  gravely. 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  have  stood  it," 
she  said ;  "  but  we'll  have  no  more  such 
tricks.  I  can't  have  such  an  evil-minded 
person  around  here.  There  is  no  telling 
what  he  might  do.  He'll  have  to  go." 

And  the  next  morning  Benny  was  in- 
formed that  Ivan  had  been  dismissed,  and 
had  gone  back  to  the  city. 

Benny  breathed  freer  after  this.  He 
had  dreaded  immeasurably  sleeping  in  the 
quarters,  so  close  to  Ivan,  as  he  was 
obliged  to  be.  And  to  his  unspeakable 
relief,  after  supper,  Mrs.  Bentley  said  to 
him,  "  If  you  are  going  to  be  my  helper, 


64  Worth  His  While 

Ben,  I'd  rather  you'd  sleep  at  the  house. 
Those  pickers  are  not  very  clean." 

And  he  was  shown  a  little  room  under 
the  eaves,  where  he  lay  down  and  slept 
peacefully. 


CHAPTER  V 

BENNY   AND   A    RING 

TT  was  very  pleasant  to  be  awakened  in 
the  morning  by  the  song  of  birds,  and 
Benny  felt  inclined  to  lie  still  and  listen 
to  them,  but  he  suddenly  remembered 
that  he  was  not  there  as  a  picker,  and 
could  not  be  quite  so  independent  in 
the  matter  of  hours  and  minutes.  He 
must  get  up  and  go  down  to  help  Mrs. 
Bentley.  Therefore  he  jumped  up  and 
quickly  dressed  himself,  and  had  the 
fire  made  before  Mrs.  Bentley  appeared. 
She  smiled  her  satisfaction.  It  was 
something,  after  all,  to  have  a  small 
willing  boy  in  place  of  a  lazy,  shiftless 
woman,  and  she  hardly  regretted  her 
slovenly  and  incompetent  servant,  al- 
5  65 


66  Worth  His  While 

though  the  work  of  getting  breakfast 
was  all  her  own. 

Benny,  however,  tried  to  make  it  easy 
for  her.  He  brought  in  water,  fed  the 
chickens,  went  to  the  dairy,  and  even  set 
the  table,  with  the  help  of  little  Jamie, 
who  showed  him  where  to  get  dishes  and 
knives  and  forks.  He  had  finished  with 
satisfaction,  for  he  had  given  a  finishing 
touch  by  bringing  in  a  bunch  of  wild 
roses  he  had  discovered  on  his  way  to  the 
spring,  and  these  he  had  placed  in  a  glass 
in  the  middle  of  the  table. 

"  Do  you  like  flowers,  Benny  ?"  Mrs. 
Bentley  asked,  as  she  saw  his  pride  in  the 
ornament. 

"  'Deed  I  do,"  Benny  replied. 

"  Then  you  shall  work  in  my  garden 
when  you  have  helped  me  through  the 
morning's  work.  It  has  been  sadly  neg- 
lected of  late,  for  we  have  been  so  short 


Benny  and  a  Ring  67 

of  help.  I  reckon  pulling  weeds  will  be 
as  easy  as  picking  strawberries,  and  yon 
will  be  in  the  shade  part  of  the  time, 
which  is  more  than  you  would  be  out 
there  in  the  fields.  Now,  come  sit  down, 
and  help  us  eat  some  of  the  strawberries 
you  have  helped  to  pick.  We  have  some 
famous  big  ones  this  morning ;  unless 
you  are  tired  of  them,"  she  added. 

Benny  stoutly  declared  that  he  was  not, 
and  soberly  said  :  "  You  know  I  didn't 
get  paid  to  eat  them,  but  to  pick  them," 
at  which  speech  every  one  laughed.  So, 
feeling  a  little  bashful  at  that,  Benny 
added  :  "  Besides,  there  is  no  cream  or 
sugar  or  biscuits  to  eat  with  them  out 
there  in  the  strawberry  patch."  But  this 
did  not  help  matters  any,  for  Mr.  Bentley 
burst  into  a  second  laugh  and  told  his 
wife  she  was  very  inconsiderate  not  to 
furnish  these  extras  to  the  pickers. 


68  Worth  His  While 

But  Mrs.  Bentley,  seeing  the  abashed 
look  on  Benny's  face,  told  him  never  to 
mind,  that  he  had  a  good  right  to  all  he 
could  eat,  with  cream  or  without,  and  that 
she  was  glad  he  was  able  to  enjoy  her 
biscuits. 

It  was  a  busy  morning,  the  latter  half 
of  it  spent  among  the  flower  beds.  At 
first  Benny  was  rather  puzzled  to  know 
the  difference  between  flowers  and  weeds, 
but  here  Jamie  came  to  his  rescue,  for 
the  little  fellow  had  kept  his  eyes  and  his 
ears  open,  and  being  country  bred,  knew 
"  pusley "  from  portulacca,  and  lamb's 
quarter  from  China  asters.  The  ill- 
smelling  wormweed  was  easily  enough 
found  out,  and  after  a  while  Ben  grew  to 
know  the  purslane,  because  it  was  so  very 
pushing,  and  he  understood  what  Mrs. 
Bentley  meant  when  she  said  some- 
thing was  as  "  mean  as  pusley,"  for  it 


Benny  and  a  Ring  69 

certainly  did  seem   to  crop  up  in  every 
direction. 

Jamie  at  last  grew  tired  of  plajang 
gardener,  and  left  Benny  to  himself.  He 
worked  away  busily  and  saw  his  pile  of 
weeds' growing  bigger  and  bigger,  while 
the  flower  beds  began  to  look  much  more 
orderly.  He  was  smoothing  the  earth 
around  a  rosebush  which  had  been  dis- 
turbed by  the  too  close  shouldering  of  a 
big  nettle,  when  he  saw  something  under 
the  green  leaves  of  the  bush  he  had 
pushed  aside.  He  picked  up  the  shining 
thing  and  brushed  off  the  clay  from  a 
gold  ring  which  had  lain  hidden,  he  did 
not  know  how  long.  He  turned  it  over  in 
his  hand.  It  was  a  pretty  ring  with  a 
row  of  blue  stones  in  it,  like  little  pieces 
of  sky,  Benny  thought.  He  would  like  to 
take  it  home  to  Kitty.  How  pleased  she 
would  be.  It  was  rather  large  for  her 


70  Worth  His  While 

little  hand,  to  be  sure,  but  she  could  keep 
it  till  she  grew  older. 

But  all  at  once  came  the  thought.  Why, 
it  isn't  mine.  Some  one  must  have  lost 
it,  and  will  be  glad  to  get  it  again.  "  I 
ought  to  have  thought  of  that  at  first," 
Benny  muttered  to  himself.  He  wasted 
no  time  in  running  around  to  the  kitchen, 
stopping  on  the  way  to  give  the  ring  a 
good  washing  at  the  pump.  He  carried 
it,  looking  very  bright  and  shining  in  the 
palm  of  his  hand,  to  Mrs.  Bentley. 

"  Mrs.  Bentley,"  he  said,  "  see  what  I 
have  found.  Is  it  yours  ?"  He  went  over 
to  where  she  was  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  a  toothsome-looking  pie. 

She  took  the  ring  and  turned  it  over, 
then  she  looked  at  Benny's  honest  little 
face.  u  No,  it  isn't  mine,"  she  told  him, 
"  but  I  know  whose  it  is,  and  she'll  be 
glad  enough  to  get  it  again.  She  will  so," 


Benny  and  a  Ring  71 

she  added  after  a  moment's  thought.  "  It 
is  Beulah  Martin's.  She  is  my  niece,  and 
she  lives  down  the  road  about  a  mile." 
She  held  the  ring,  lightly  tossing  it  about 
in  her  palm.  "  I  tell  you  what  you  shall 
do  ;  you  shall  go  and  take  it  to  her  as 
soon  as  you  have  helped  me  through  the 
dinner  dishes.  You  have  worked  like  a 
Trojan  this  morning  and  you  deserve  to 
have  a  little  time  to  go  down  there.  It 
isn't  so  very  far.  You  might  go  down 
with  one  of  the  wagons  and  they  can  put 
you  off  at  the  gate."  She  did  not  say 
anything  about  Ben's  honesty  in  bringing 
it  to  her,  and  he  was  glad  she  had  taken 
it  for  granted  that  he  would  do  just  that 
thing.  He  was  better  pleased  than  if  she 
had  been  surprised  at  his  doing  it. 

So,  about  three  o'clock,  he  started  off 
down  the  level  white  road,  mounted  on 
the  high  seat  of  one  of  the  wagons. 


72  Worth  His  While 

"  That's  Martins',"  the  driver  said,  as  they 
approached  a  yellow  house  among  the 
trees. 

Benny  clambered  down  and  trudged  up 
the  lane.  He  was  wondering  whether 
he  should  knock  at  the  front  door  or  go 
around  to  the  kitchen,  when  he  saw  that 
some  one  was  sitting  on  the  top  step  of 
the  porch.  As  he  came  nearer  he  saw 
that  it  was  a  pretty  girl  in  a  pink  dress. 
She  had  some  embroidery  in  her  hand  and 
was  busily  working  upon  it.  A  big  dog, 
seeing  a  stranger  coming,  jumped  up  from 
where  he  was  lying  under  a  tree,  and  be- 
gan to  bark  furiously..  "  Rod,  Rod,  come 
back !"  called  the  girl.  "  Aren't  you 
ashamed  of  yourself,  sir  ?  Don't  be  afraid 
of  him,  little  boy,  he  won't  hurt  you,  but 
he  thinks  it  is  his  duty  to  bark  at  anyone 
who  comes  up  the  walk,  unless  it  is  one 
of  the  family." 


Benny  and  a  Ring  73 

"  I'm  not  afraid,"  Benny  replied.  "  I 
think  he  looks  like  a  nice  dog.  See,  he 
is  wagging  his  tail."  And  so  he  was, 
and  Benny  patted  him  on  the  head,  an 
attention  the  dog  seemed  to  receive  in 
good  part,  for  he  looked  up  at  the  little 
boy  and  put  up  a  huge  paw  to  be  shaken. 
"  He  is  a  very  nice  dog,"  Benny  re- 
peated, well  pleased  to  be  friends  with 
the  creature. 

"So  he  is,"  the  girl  replied.  "  His 
name  is  Roderick.  What  is  yours  ?" 

"  Mine  is  Benny  Jordan.  Are  you  Miss 
Beulah  Martin  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  how  did  you  know  ?" 

"  Mrs.  Bentley  told  me." 

"Aunt  Mary  ?  Did  she  send  you  over  ?" 

"  Yes,  at  least  I  found  this  and  she  told 
me  where  to  bring  it."  He  held  out  the 
ring,  coming  a  step  nearer. 

"Oh!"     The   color   flew  up    into   the 


74  Worth  His  While 

girl's  face.  "  OH,  how  glad  I  am.  You 
don't  know  how  glad  I  am.  Tell  me  all 
about  it." 

Benny  told  her  where  he  had  found  it, 
under  a  certain  rosebush,  and  how  the  big 
nettle  had  grown  up  there,  and  that  he 
had  seen  this  shining  thing  at  its  roots. 
The  girl  listened  with  her  eyes  on  the 
ring. 

"  You  were  a  dear  child  to  bring  it 
right  away,"  she  said,  when  he  had 
finished. 

"  Mrs.  Bentley  told  me  to.  I  work 
there,  you  know." 

Beulah  questioned  him,  and  he  told  her 
how  and  why  he  had  come.  Her  eyes 
looked  at  him  wistfully  when  he  had  fin- 
ished. "  I  wish  I  had  something  to  give 
you  for  finding  this." 

Benny  put  his  hands  behind  him. 
"Oh,  but  I  wouldn't  take  it.  I  didn't 


Benny  and  a  Ring  75 

work  for  it.  I  just  happened  to  find  it, 
and  I  am  as  glad  as  can  be  that  I  did." 

"  I  value  it  very  much.  I  don't  think 
I  own  anything  that  I  value  so  much, 
and  I  do  want  to  give  you  something, 
but  I  can't,  I'm  afraid,  for  we're  not  very 
rich,  and  I  hardly  ever  have  any  money 
to  spend.  I  want  you  to  have  a  piece  of 
cake,  though.  I  made  it  myself  this 
morning." 

Benny  felt  that  he  need  not  refuse  a 
piece  of  cake,  and  he  sat  down  on  the  step 
while  she  went  to  get  it.  She  came  back 
with  what  Benny  thought  was  the  most 
delicious  slice  of  cake  he  had  ever  tasted. 
As  he  sat  there  eating  it,  Beulah  said : 
"  Let's  pretend  I  am  a  fairy  who  could 
grant  you  your  wish,  something  just  for 
your  own  self  and  nobody  else ;  what 
would  you  like  ?  So  long  as  I  can't  give 
it  to  you,  it  won't  do  any  harm,  and  we 


76  Worth  His  While 

can  make  out  that  I  am  going  to  give 
you  something  more  than  my  thanks." 

Benny  was  nothing  loth  to  play  "  make 
pretend  ";  he  and  Kitty  had  played  it  too 
often  for  it  to  be  an  unfamiliar  game.  So 
he  sat  soberly  thinking  and  munching 
his  cake.  There  was  one  thing  he  wanted 
very,  very  much  ;  so  much  that  he  scarcely 
liked  to  utter  the  wish,  for  it  was  so  near 
his  heart.  He  had  dreamed  of  it,  longed 
for  it,  but  it  was  something  so  unattain- 
able that  he  could  never  dare  to  hope  for 
it.  But  after  a  little  while  he  said,  shyly 
and  hesitatingly:  "I  want  a  bicycle, 
awfully." 

Beulah  dropped  her  work  in  her  lap 
and  gave  a  little  scream  of  delight.  "  To 
think  you  should  say  that  I  And  to  think 
I  forgot !  Why,  that  is  the  one  thing — 
just  wait  a  minute."  She  jumped  up  and 
ran  around  the  side  of  the  house.  Pres- 


Benny  and  a  Ring  77 

ently,  Benny  heard  her  call,  "  Benny, 
Benny,  come  here !" 

He  followed  the  voice  which  led  him  to 
the  door  of  an  old  building  used  as  a  sort 
of  shop.  In  the  doorway  Beulah  was 
standing.  "  Come  here,"  she  said.  "  Do 
you  think  this  will  do  ?" 

Was  she  fooling  him  ?  Was  this  a 
"  make  pretend  "?  His  heart  beat  fast  as 
he  saw  that  she  really  did  have  her  hand 
on  something  which  looked  like  a  wheel, 
and,  as  he  came  up,  she  rolled  out  a  bi- 
cycle ;  not  a  very  new  one,  but  one  in 
pretty  good  condition  and  just  about  the 
size  for  a  boy  of  his  inches. 

"  Look  here,"  she  said,  "  I  believe  this 
is  just  big  enough  for  you.  My  uncle 
gave  it  to  my  brother  two  or  three  years 
ago.  Charlie  has  outgrown  it,  for  he  has 
grown  so  tall.  Now  he  is  at  my  uncle's 
in  the  city  where  he  is  going  to  school, 


78  Worth  His  While 

and  when  he  went  away  he  said :  '  Sis, 
you  can  have  my  old  wheel ;  maybe  some- 
body will  buy  it  and  you  can  have  what 
it  will  bring.'  But  nobody  about  here 
has  wanted  it,  so  it  is  on  my  hands.  Now, 
please,  please,  won't  you  take  it  ?  I'd  be 
so  glad  if  you  would." 

"  Really  ?"  he  said.  "  Honest,  do  you 
want  me  to  have  it  ?" 

u  Honest,  I  do.  I'd  rather  you  would 
have  it  than  anyone  in  the  world.  Just 
try  it  and  see  how  it  goes.  It  had  the 
tires  blown  up  not  so  very  long  ago,  so  I 
reckon  that  will  not  need  to  be  done 
right  away." 

Benny  mounted — what  boy  does  not 
know  how  to  ride  a  wheel  ? — and  rode 
around  the  house  once  or  twice.  "  She 
goes  like  a  breeze,"  he  said,  his  face 
shining. 

"Then  she's  yours." 


Benny  and  a  Ring  79 

Benny  looked  at  Beulah.  She  held 
against  her  lips  the  ring  which  she  had 
slipped  on  her  finger.  "  If  yon  love  that 
ring  half  as  much  as  I  do  this  wheel,"  he 
said,  presently,  "  you're  mighty  fond  of 
it." 

Beulah  laughed.  The  soft  color  flushed 
up  into  her  cheeks  again.  She  gave  his 
shoulder  a  gentle  pressure.  "  I  do,"  she 
told  him,  "  and  more." 

"  Did  I  say  thank  you,  Miss  Beulah  ? 
If  I  didn't,  I  think  it  a  hundred  thousand 
times." 

"  And  I  say,  thank  you  a  hundred 
thousand  times.  Good-by  !"  For  Benny 
had  mounted  his  wheel  and  was  spinning 
down  the  level  road,  the  happiest  boy 
anywhere  about. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BEN'S   BEAUTIFUL  SURPRISE 

"\  yl  /"HEN  Saturday  came  Benny  set  off 
on  his  wheel  for  his  visit  to  the 
Welch's,  a  very  happy  little  boy,  with  his 
hard  earnings  in  his  pocket.  As  he 
neared  the  store  he  saw  Jennie  on  the 
lookout  for  him.  He  could  scarcely  wait 
to  show  his  wheel,  and  made  his  pedal  go 
as  he  covered  the  last  few  rods.  "  See 
my  wheel,"  he  cried.  "  Aren't  you  sur- 
prised to  see  me  on  one  ?" 

But  Jennie  hardly  noticed  the  wheel. 
"  He's  come,  father,  he's  come  !"  she  cried. 
"  Oh,  Benny,  we've  such  a  beautiful  sur- 
prise to  show  you.  Hurry  !  Hurry !" 

Benny  hastened  his  step  at  Jennie's 
call,  wondering  the  while  what  this  fine 
80 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  81 

surprise  might  be.  "  Maybe  it's  some 
more  puppies,"  lie  thought,  and  he  fol- 
lowed Jennie  around  to  the  side  porch. 
"  Sit  down  on  that  step,"  said  Jennie, 
"  and  you'll  see  something  fine." 

Benny  did  as  he  was  bid,  and  the  next 
moment  two  hands  were  clasped  over  his 
eyes.  "Guess  who!"  cried  Jennie,  but 
before  he  could  decide  a  familiar  little 
laugh  came  to  his  ears,  and  the  secret  was 
out.  "  Kitty !"  he  cried,  jumping  up. 
"  Oh,  Kitty,  how  did  you  get  here  ?  Is 
mother  with  you  ?" 

"  No,"  answered  Kitty,  "  there  is  only 
me  for  you  to  see.  I'll  tell  you  all  about 
it.  This  morning  Mrs.  Welch  and  Jennie 
came  to  town,  and  they  came  to  our  house 
straight  off,  and  asked  mother  to  let  me 
come  back  with  them  this  afternoon. 
Mrs.  Welch  said  that  you  had  told  them 
about  me  and  that  Jennie  wanted  so  much 


82  Worth  His  While 

to  have  me  come ;  and  mother  hurried 
and  got  me  ready  and  I  came,  and  I  am 
going  to  stay  a  week.  Oh,  Benny,  I  am 
so  glad  to  see  you,  and  isn't  it  all  lovely  ?" 

Benny  was  ready  to  agree  with  her 
most  emphatically. 

"  I  didn't  want  to  leave  mother  all 
alone,  but  she  was  so  glad  to  have  me 
come,  and  Miss  Perkins  is  going  to  stay 
with  her  while  we  are  away.  Mrs.  Welch 
brought  mother  some  lovely  strawberries 
and  some  eggs,  and  she'll  have  a  feast  to- 
morrow. Oh,  Benny,  aren't  they  good  ? 
Now  tell  me  everything,  I  want  so  much 
to  hear."  And  Benny  proceeded  to  tell 
his  experiences  to  a  very  much  interested 
little  girl,  who  was  properly  indignant, 
pleased,  or  proud,  as  the  case  might  be. 

"  And  oh,  Benny,"  said  Kitty,  when  he 
had  told  of  Mr.  Welch's  kindness,  "Jennie 
is  so  dear;  she  just  begged  to  have  me 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  83 

corne,  and  we  have  had  such  a  good  time 
to-day."  The  fact  of  the  matter  was  that 
Jennie's  quiet  sympathies  had  been  so 
aroused  by  Benny's  account  of  his  deli- 
cate little  sister  that  she  had  implored  her 
parents'  to  ask  Kitty  to  come  and  make 
her  a  visit,  and  would  not  rest  till  her 
mother  had  taken  her  to  town  to  see 
Kitty,  and  Mrs.  Jordan's  consent  was  then 
won  without  much  difficulty. 

Three  very  happy  children  they  were 
who  went  down  to  see  the  collie  puppies, 
and  who  laughed  to  see  the  tiny  speckled 
pigs  with  curly  tails,  and  who  viewed  the 
poultry  yard  with  much  pride,  Jennie, 
growing  ecstatic  over  the  broods  of 
pretty  downy  chickens.  It  was  while 
she  was  cuddling  a  yellow  duckling  that 
they  were  summoned  to  the  house  to  help 
Mrs.  Welch  to  make  ice  cream.  Benny 
made  himself  most  useful,  pounding  the 


84  Worth  His  While 

ice  and  turning  the  freezer  with  a  good 
will. 

"Is  it  anybody's  birthday?  It's  just 
like  a  festival,"  said  Kitty.  "  Strawber- 
ries and  ice  cream  and  cake.  Think  of 
it,  Benny ;  I  didn't  know  people  ever  had 
such  things  just  in  an  everyday  way ;  I 
thought  they  only  had  them  when  they 
had  festivals  or  parties  or  something." 

"  I  suppose  it  is  somebody's  birthday," 
said  Mrs.  Welch,  laughing,  "  but  I  don't 
know  just  whose.  We  make  ice  cream 
very  often  in  summer,  for  we've  an  ice- 
house full  of  ice,  and  plenty  of  cream. 
Suppose  we  celebrate  your  birthday  to- 
day?" 

Kitty,  very  much  pleased  at  the  sugges- 
tion, looked  up  with  a  radiant  smile. 

"  Oh,  then  she'll  have  to  have  some 
birthday  gifts,"  said  Jennie,  and  she  ran 
off  to  have  a  consultation  with  her  father, 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  85 

the  result  of  which  was  that  at  supper- 
time  Kitty's  plate  was  piled  high  with 
packages,  not  of  very  much  value,  but 
they  represented  great  bounty  to  Kitty, 
who  so  seldom  had  anything  new.  First 
there  was  a  cunning  little  china  tea  set 
from  Jennie,  then  a  small  doll  from  Mol- 
lie,  a  little  box  of  candy  from  Mr.  Welch, 
and  a  handkerchief  from  Joe,  while  Mrs. 
Welch  placed  before  her  a  big  frosted 
cake  on  which  the  name  "  Kitty  "  was 
outlined  with  little  pink  candies. 

Kitty  looked  from  one  to  the  other  in 
speechless  joy,  and  Benny  was  so  over- 
come with  gratitude  at  such  kindness 
that  he  turned  to  Joe,  who  sat  next  him, 
and  hugged  him  in  the  most  energetic 
manner. 

For  once  in  his  life  Benny  had  all  the 
ice  cream  and  strawberries  that  he  could 
eat.  It  would  not  be  well  to  state  how 


86  Worth  His  While 

many  saucerfuls  he  ate,  for  the  statement 
might  seem  a  doubtful  one,  and  it  is  still 
a  greater  surprise  that  he  was  not  made 
ill. 

The  peaceful  Sabbath  came  with  a  soft, 
blue  sky,  with  orioles  and  wrens  singing 
in  the  flowering  honeysuckles  which 
grew  around  the  porch  ;  with  sweet  odors 
wafted  up  from  the  roses  in  the  garden  ; 
with  everything  so  fair,  so  quiet,  so  beau- 
tiful, that  Benny  and  Kitty  both  felt  a 
new  reverence  for  the  day,  and  they 
started  off  for  Sunday-school  as  happy  as 
possible.  Mrs.  Welch  had  dressed  Kitty 
in  one  of  the  pretty  little  white  dresses 
that  Jennie  had  outgrown,  had  put  upon 
her  feet  a  pair  of  nice  tan  shoes  which 
were  too  small  for  Jennie,  had  curled  the 
little  maid's  fair  hair  so  that  when  she  ap- 
peared with  her  sweet  little  face  shining 
with  pleasure,  even  Mr.  Welch  gave  her 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  87 

an  admiring  glance,  and  said,  "  Well, 
little  one,  you  look  as  sweet  as  that  rose- 
bud pinned  on  your  frock." 

Kitty  looked  up  at  him  with  gratitude. 
"  It  must  be  nice  to  have  a  father,"  she 
said,  -and  the  good  man  turned  away 
to  hide  his  feelings. 

"  Poor  little  tots,"  he  said  to  his  wife, 
as  the  children  went  out  the  gate,  "  it's 
pretty  tough  when  a  man  has  to  leave 
children  like  those  unprovided  for." 

"  Then  don't  you  do  it,  Thad,"  said  his 
wife,  with  a  twinkle  in  her  eye. 

Mr.  Welch  laughed  and  started  out  to 
follow  the  children. 

The  little  picker  took  his  way  back  to 
Mr.  Bentley's  early  the  next  morning, 
feeling  that,  with  Kitty  so  near,  and  the 
happy  memory  of  that  delightful  visit,  he 
could  get  through  the  week  quite  hap- 
pily, especially  since  he  was  now  deliv- 


88  Worth  His  While 

ered  of  the  disagreeable  presence  of 
Ivan,  and  no  longer  was  compelled  to 
sleep  in  the  pickers'  quarters. 

"  If  Mrs.  Bentley  wants  your  help  you 
just  do  what  she  tells  you,"  Mr.  Bentley 
said  to  him,  "  and  it  will  be  the  same  as  if 
you  worked  in  the  field.  I'll  make  it  all 
right."  In  consequence  there  were  many 
times  when  Benny  was  bidden  to  go  for 
the  mail,  which  gave  the  happiness  of  a 
few  words  with  Kitty ;  again,  he  was  sent 
to  get  vegetables  from  the  garden,  to  bring 
milk  from  the  dairy,  to  help  Mrs.  Bentley 
with  her  chickens,  until  he  learned  many 
things  of  which  he  had  hitherto  been 
ignorant.  He  particularly  liked  to  work 
in  the  garden,  and  Mrs.  Bentley  was  well 
pleased  to  have  some  one  to  carry  flower- 
pots, to  make  a  border,  or  to  help  her 
transplant  the  growing  flowers. 

"  I    shall    have    a    fine    garden    this 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  89 

year,"  she  said  to  her  husband,  "  that 
little  Ben  is  so  quick  and  willing,  and 
is  so  interested  in  what  he  does.  I 
should  really  like  to  keep  him  here  all 
the  time." 

"  I  reckon  his  mother  will  want  him 
home  again,"  replied  Mr.  Bentley,  "  but 
we'll  have  him  down  early  next  year. 
Thad  Welch  says  he  is  an  uncommonly 
nice  little  fellow." 

"  I'll  take  him  to  the  picnic  with  me," 
said  Mrs.  Bentley,  "  he  makes  himself  so 
useful,  and  will  be  such  a  help  with  the 
children;  besides,  he  will  enjoy  a  holi- 
day." 

And  so,  to  Benny's  great  delight,  he 
was  told  that  he  was  invited  to  a  Sunday- 
school  picnic.  He  had  heard  great  tales 
of  it  from  the  Welches,  and  Kitty  was  in 
a  high  state  of  excitement  over  it. 

"  Oh,  I'm  going  to  the  picnic  !"  he  glee- 


90  Worth  His  While 

fully  told  the  two  little  girls  the  next  time 
he  went  for  the  mail. 

"  Oh!  oh!"  cried  the  two  children,  "  Ben 
is  going !  How  fine !  I  thought  you 
said  you  couldn't  go,  Benny." 

"Well,  I  didn't  think  I  could.  Mr. 
Bentley  didn't  say  anything  about  my 
stopping  work ;  but  now  Mrs.  Bentley 
says  she  wants  me  to  go  with  her ;  and 
Oh,  Kit !  she's  making  cakes  and  pies, 
and  frying  chicken,  and  making  biscuit 
till  you  can't  rest !  I  tell  you  she's  got 
a  lot  cooked !" 

"  So  have  we,"  put  in  Jennie.  "  I 
must  tell  mother  right  away  that  you  are 
going ;  she'll  be  so  glad." 

A  long  drive  in  the  big  Dayton,  in 
which  were  stowed  sundry  baskets, 
brought  the  picnicers  to  a  pleasant 
grove  which  overlooked  a  beautiful  creek. 
And  it  would  be  useless  to  try  to  tell 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  91 

what  a  good  time  the  children  had ;  of 
how  they  swung  on  the  grapevine  swings  ; 
of  how  they  gathered  lovely,  sweet-smell- 
ing magnolias  ;  of  how  they  fished  from 
a  little  rowboat,  and  of  how  they  ate  un- 
limited supplies  of  good  things ;  then 
the  games  that  they  played  and  the  songs 
that  they  sang,  till,  just  as  a  glorious 
sunset  touched  the  water  with  long 
streaks  of  rose  and  gold,  they  made  ready 
to  drive  home.  If  was  all  entirely  too 
delightful  not  to  give  enjoyment  during 
every  minute  of  the  day  to  the  little  city 
children  who  had  scarcely  ever  been 
beyond  brick  walls,  and  they  joined 
heartily  in  the  homeward  singing,  going 
to  bed  at  last  with  very  tired  bodies,  but 
very  happy  hearts. 

"  Do  you  think  you  can  help  nie 
churn?"  Mrs.  Bentley  asked  Benny  the 
next  morning. 


92  Worth  His  While 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  he.  "  I  never 
saw  how  butter  is  made,  but  I'll  try." 

"  Oh,  well,  that  is  all  I  want  you  to  do. 
There  is  not  much  skill  required,  and  if 
you  keep  the  handle  of  the  churn  going 
that  is  all  you  need  do." 

So,  under  a  widespreading  chestnut 
tree,  Benny  set  to  work  at  this  new  em- 
ployment. It  was  rather  monotonous 
work,  but  he  could  do  it  mechanically 
and  let  his  eyes  rove  over  field  and  sky 
till,  after  a  while,  he  felt  the  cream  grow- 
ing more  and  more  lumpy. 

There  was  a  long  lane  leading  from  the 
road  up  to  the  house,  the  gate  opening 
into  it  from  the  side  yard  being  nearly 
always  open.  Just  before  the  gate  little 
Alice  was  playing  contentedly  in  the 
sand  with  sticks  and  pebbles. 

Benny  turned  to  look  at  her  when  he 
saw  something  which  made  him  drop  his 


Ben's  Beautiful  Surprise  93 

churn  handle  and  run  swiftly.  A  buggy 
was  coming  up  the  lane,  the  horse  rushing 
on  furiously.  It  was  evident  that  the 
girl  who  was  driving  had  lost  control  of 
her  horse.  It  was  Molly  Welch  who 
held  the  reins,  and  her  horse  was  running 
away.  In  another  instant  the  horse 
would  reach  the  gate.  Not  only  was 
Molly  in  danger,  but  little  Alice  was 
directly  in  the  road.  Benny  rushed  for- 
ward with  one  thought  uppermost — if  he 
could  only  reach  the  gate  and  shut  it.  It 
was  a  race  between  him  and  the  runaway 
horse.  He  darted  off,  reached  Alice, 
flung  her  aside,  and  made  a  last  desperate 
rush  for  the  gate. 


CHAPTER  VII 
HIS  FATHER'S  PLAN 

TUST  as  Benny  closed  the  gate  with  a 
slam  the  runaway  horse  reached  it 
and  stopped  short,  trembling  in  every 
limb.  The  girl  in  the  buggy  was  as  pale 
as  a  ghost.  Two  or  three  men  came  run- 
ning up,  and  Benny  suddenly  found  him- 
self a  hero.  He  had  fallen  to  the  ground 
as  the  gate  swung  to,  and  had  struck  his 
head  so  that  his  temple  was  bleeding 
slightly.  Little  Alice  was  crying  that 
Benny  had  knocked  her  down,  and 
Mrs.  Bentley  came  running  from  the 
house. 

She  had  seen  the  accident  from  the 
kitchen  window,  and  without  losing  her 
hold  on  her  little  girl,  whom  she  tenderly 

94 


His  Father's  Plan  95 

picked  up,  she  clasped  Benny  in  her  arms 
as  he  staggered  to  his  feet. 

"  Oh,  37-011  dear,  brave  little  boy  1"  she 
cried.  "  You  have  saved  my  baby,  and 
you  might  have  been  killed  yourself! 
Oh,  how  thankful  I  am  ;  how  very  thank- 
ful !  And  oh,  it  is  Molly  Welch !  You 
have  saved  Molly,  too  !  Such  a  little  boy, 
and  so  brave !" 

By  this  time  Molly  was  out  of  the 
buggy,  and  the  men  had  quieted  down  the 
trembling  horse.  "  It  was  the  slickest 
trick  I  ever  saw,"  said  one  of  the  men. 
11  One  of  those  women  among  the  pickers 
left  a  baby  carriage  out  in  the  road,  and 
it  scared  the  horse  nearly  to  death.  We 
saw  he  was  getting  skittish  when  he 
passed,  and  we  ran,  but  'twarn't  no  use. 
We  couldn't  git  there,  and  this  here 
youngster  just  ups  and  runs  to  the  gate. 
It  was  a  pretty  spunky  thing  to  do,  for  he 


96  Worth  His  While 

was  just  in  the  nick  of  time.  Another 
minute  and  the  horse  would  have  trampled 
him." 

"Why,  it's  our  little  Benny,"  said 
Molly,  with  a  quaver  in  her  voice.  "  Why, 
Benny,  don't  you  know  me  ?"  for  Benny 
was  looking  around  in  a  dazed  sort  of  a 
way. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  you,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  feel  sort  of  queer." 

"  Come  in,  Molly,  and  let  me  give  you 
a  cup  of  tea,"  said  Mrs.  Bentley ;  "  you 
look  so  white,  and  no  wonder.  And 
Benny,  I  must  patch  up  your  poor  head," 
and  she  put  her  arm  around  the  boy  with 
a  real  mother-look  on  her  face. 

"  I  was  just  coming  over  to  see  if  we 
could  get  some  of  your  strawberries," 
Molly  said.  "  Ours  are  about  gone.  I've 
often  driven  this  horse  before ;  father 
thought  him  perfectly  safe." 


His  Father's  Plan  97 

"  Any  horse  would  be  scared  at  seeing 
such  a  thing  as  a  baby  carriage  with  a 
flapping  parasol,  in  the  road.  Those 
pickers  bring  all  sorts  of  things  with 
them,  and  have  so  little  discretion  about 
where  they  leave  things.  You  shall  not 
drive  that  horse  home ;  we  will  send  you 
with  one  of  our  horses,"  said  Mrs.  Bentley. 

And  then  Benny,  with  his  aching  head, 
was  sent  up  to  his  quiet  little  room,  while 
Mrs.  Bentley  and  Molly  had  a  long  talk. 

"  That  is  one  of  the  nicest  little  fellows 
I  ever  saw,"  Molty  remarked.  "  We  took 
such  a  fancy  to  him  at  our  house,  with 
his  homely,  freckled  little  face.  And  his 
little  sister  Kitty  is  the  dearest  child. 
They  have  been  very  well  brought  up, 
and  must  have  a  very  good  mother." 

"  Ben  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  me," 
returned  Mrs.  Bentley.  "  I  don't  know 
what  I  should  have  done  without  him 


98  Worth  His  While 

while  Roy  has  been  sick.  He  is  always 
so  quick  and  cheerful,  and  his  dear  little 
round  face  is  always  so  sunny.  And — " 
here  the  tears  came  to  her  eyes — "  I  know 
Mr.  Bentley  will  think  he  can't  do  enough 
for  him,  for  Alice  is  the  apple  of  his  eye." 

"  And  my  father,  I'm  sure,  will  feel  the 
same,"  Mollie  returned.  "  What  can  we 
do  for  him  ?  They  must  be  poor,  or  he 
wouldn't  have  come  here  as  a  picker." 

That  evening  Mr.  Welch  made  his  ap- 
pearance. He  and  Mr.  Bentley  stood  out 
by  the  fence  a  long  time  before  they  came 
to  the  house.  Then  they  came  and  sat 
down  one  on  each  side  of  Benny,  where 
he  was  on  the  doorstep  listening  to  the 
whippoorwills. 

"  Benny,  my  lad,"  said  Mr.  Welch; 
"  you  don't  know  what  you've  done  for  us 
two  men.  You  must  let  us  do  something 
for  you." 


His  Father's.  Plan  99 

"  You  have  done  ever  so  much  for  me. 
Oh,  Mr.  Welch,  just  think  how  kind  you 
have  been,  you  and  Mr.  Bentley,  too. 
And  do  you  think  I  could  have  let  little 
Alice  and  Miss  Molly  get  hurt  without 
trying  to  do  that  ?  I  only  did  what  my 
father  and  mother  would  want  me  to, 
sir." 

"  You  like  the  country  very  much,  don't 
you,  Benny?"  Mr.  Welch  continued. 
"  You  told  me  so  in  the  boat,  and  you  said 
your  mother  was  a  country  girl  before  she 
was  married,  and  that  your  father  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  And  that  your  father  always  planned 
to  have  a  little  place  of  his  own,  and  that 
the  doctor  says  your  little  sister  needs 
country  air." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,  my  lad,  we're  not  very  rich,  my 


ioo  Worth  His  While 

neighbor  Bentley  and  myself,  bnt  we're 
well  enough  off  to  pay  our  debts,  and  we 
owe  you  a  big  one.  I've  a  little  place,  not 
much  of  an  affair,  a  four  or  five  room 
house,  with  an  acre  of  ground.  It's  about 
half  way  between  here  and  my  store. 
And  I  offer  it  to  you  rent  free.  Mr. 
Bentley  says  he'll  stock  it  up  for  you 
with  chickens  and  such  things,  and  that 
you  shall  never  want  for  fruit,  and  veg- 
etables, and  feed,  while  he  has  any.  My 
wife  says  she  has  a  fine  little  pig  for  you, 
and  Molly  has  a  young  heifer  that  she  in- 
sists upon  calling  yours.  So  if  you  want 
to  come  down  here  and  live  among  people 
that  will  always  look  out  for  you,  you've 
but  to  say  the  word." 

Benny  looked  from  one  to  the  other, 
only  saying,  "  Oh !  oh,  sir !  Oh,  Mr. 
Welch !" 

"  Yes,"  put  in  Mr.  Bentley,  "  we'll  look 


His  Father's  Plan  101 

out  for  you,  my  boy.  It  was  a  lucky  day 
for  us  when  you  got  left  on  that  steam- 
boat. And  now,  Ben,  I'll  take  you  up  to 
town  to-morrow,  if  you  want  to  go,  and 
talk  it  over  with  your  mother.  I've  got 
to  go  hunt  up  help  for  my  wife.  So  you 
can  go  along  if  you  like." 

And  then  Benny  went  into  the  house 
to  see  Mrs.  Bentley  standing  with  shining 
eyes,  she  having  heard  all  the  talk. 

As  she  took  a  candle  from  the  table  to 
give  into  Benny's  hands,  she  stooped  and 
kissed  him,  saying,  "  God  bless  you,  my 
dear  little  boy !" 

Two  such  laden-down  little  figures  as 
made  their  way  up  the  narrow  street  the 
next  day  ;  and  not  less  laden  down  was 
their  companion,  Mr.  Bentley.  Kitty 
would  not  be  left  behind,  and  helped  to 
convey  peas  and  strawberries,  a  big  bottle 
of  rich  cream,  a  fine  roll  of  butter,  eggs, 


102  Worth  His  While 

and  home-made  cake,  and  best  of  all, 
a  huge  bunch  of  roses,  over  which 
Benny's  blue  eyes  peeped  as  bright  as 
two  stars. 

What  a  glad  mother  it  was  who  wel- 
comed home  her  darlings  with  sweet  sur- 
prise !  And  how  Kitty  laughed  as  one 
after  another  of  the  country  gifts  were 
shown  !  And  what  a  thankful  little  family 
it  was  that  Mr.  Bentley  left  that  evening 
when  it  was  all  settled  that  they  should  go 
to  live  in  Mr.  Welch's  house  ! 

'  You  can  find  plenty  of  customers, 
Mrs.  Jordan,"  said  Mr.  Bentley.  "  There 
is  a  great  scarcity  of  persons  who  can 
sew  for  us  in  our  neighborhood  just  now. 
Miss  Grant  got  married  last  fall  and  came 
to  town  to  live,  and  Mrs.  Larkins  is  too 
old  to  sew,  so  there  is  only  Miss  Thomp- 
son left,  and  she  hasn't  time  to  give  every- 
one, so  you'll  find  plenty  to  do  if  you  want 


SUCH  A  GLAD  MOTHER 


His  Father's  Pkn  103 

it,  and  thankful  enough  the  women  will 
be  not  to  have  to  traipse  up  to  town  every 
time  a  dress  is  to  be  made." 

And  therefore  a  few  weeks  later,  when 
strawberries  were  gone  and  shining  black- 
berries grew  along  the  hedgerows,  when 
early  apples  were  ripening  in  the  or- 
chards and  huge  watermelons  were  bring- 
ing a  promise  of  heavy  loads  for  the  market, 
the  Jordans  came  to  their  new  home,  their 
furniture  having  gone  down  the  day  be- 
fore, free  of  charge,  on  Mr.  Bentley's 
"  bug-eye." 

A  regular  surprise  party  there  was  to 
receive  them — all  the  Welches  and  all  the 
Bentleys.  The  dear  collie  puppy  was 
made  over  to  Ben  by  Joe  Welch  ;  Molly's 
heifer  lowed  in  the  cowshed  ;  ten  fine  hens 
and  two  pretty  roosters  strutted  about  in 
the  little  back  yard  ;  Mrs.  Welch's  fat 
pig  grunted  in  a  new  sty,  and  between 


104  Worth  His  While 

smiles  and  tears,  Mrs.  Jordan  said  that 
she  had  never  seen  any  but  a  minister's 
family  so  supplied  with  good  things. 

The  next  year  Benny  was  not  among 
the  pickers  ;  he  was  going  to  the  district 
school  with  Kitty,  whose  pale  cheeks  had 
gained  a  wild  rose  hue.  And  Benny  had  a 
little  garden  of  his  own,  a  garden  in  which 
he  took  much  pride,  for  it  had  been  planted 
and  tended  by  himself  alone.  The  rows 
of  radishes  and  lettuce  were,  to  be  sure, 
rather  uneven,  and  the  corn  in  some 
places  had  refused  to  come  up  at  all,  but 
it  was  a  very  fair  beginning  for  a  little 
boy,  and  showed  what  might  be  expected 
later. 

Mr.  Welch  says  some  day  when  Joe 
goes  to  the  city  to  live  he  shall  want  a 
clerk  in  his  store,  and  Mr.  Bentley  says 
some  day  he  shall  want  an  overseer  on 
his  farm.  Therefore  Benny  finds  it  a 


His  Father's  Plan  105 

rather  difficult  matter  to  decide  which 
of  these  two  opportunities  shall  be  his 
to  take. 

Kitty,  however,  settled  it  for  him  one 
evening  when  they  were  sitting  out  on 
their  little  vine-covered  porch.  "  I  think," • 
she  said,  "  that  you'd  better  go  to  Mr. 
Welch's  first,  'cause  he  was  your  first 
friend,  and  when  you  have  learned  all 
about  storekeeping  you  can  go  to  Mr. 
Bentley  and  manage  his  farm,  and  Miss 
Molly's  husband  can  be  in  Mr.  Welch's 
store."  Who  Miss  Molly's  husband  is  to 
be  has  not  yet  been  decided,  but  no  doubt 
when  he  does  appear  he  will  be  glad  to 
have  his  future  so  plainly  set  before 
him. 

'  That's    a    right     good    plan,"    was 
Benny's  reply  to  his  sister. 

"  And  if  you  see  any  poor  little  boys 
among  your  pickers  you'll  make  it  worth 


io6  Worth  His  While 

their  while,  won't  you,  Benny  ?"  said 
Kitty. 

"  I  will  that,"  replied  Benny,  emphat- 
ically. 

And  just  then  was  heard  their  mother's 
voice,  "  Come  in,  children,  your  bread  and 
milk  is  waiting  for  you." 


\. 

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